


A few dares, a couple bets, and a single truth

by snapchattingnct



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bottom Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Top Mark Lee (NCT), actually spicy as hell, porn with some plot haha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25705771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapchattingnct/pseuds/snapchattingnct
Summary: Mark smiled in a way that dared Donghyuck to fall in love with him.And Donghyuck was never one to back down from a dare.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 112
Kudos: 981
Collections: Markhyuck, goodmarkhyuck





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mypagemp3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypagemp3/gifts).



> For Any, a tweet turned into a fic, this one's for you. And who I would do anything for. Even breaking my virginity to smut writing haha. 
> 
> Tried to post this in time for Mark's bday, but it kinda grew out of hand haha. This was supposed to be a one-shot but I ended up having to break it up. Anyways, happy belated birthday markie!!
> 
> Bless Isis's soul and heart for betaing this for me even though it's filthy... 
> 
> But enjoy~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few dares.

Donghyuck made it to the top of the stairs and began to make his way down the cream-colored hallways that he had gotten so used to for the past couple of months. 

“I promise that I’ll be quick.” He said into the phone as he stopped in front of a familiar blue door. Donghyuck rasped his knuckles against the door. “It’ll be like five minutes top.”

Even though Renjun wasn’t in front of him, Donghyuck could just see the way that his best friend was rolling his eyes. After a long sigh, Renjun grumbled out, “I swear, if you’re still at his apartment after more than five minutes, even by a second, I’m storming in there and taking you out myself. I don’t give a _fuck_ if y’all are doing some post break up sex or some shit and his dick is still inside of you, I’m taking you out of there.” 

He groaned, head tilted backwards in exasperation. “Renjun, I am _not_ going to have sex with that cheating asshole. That’s not something that you’ll have to worry about. I can promise you that.” 

“Good, because—.” 

Donghyuck mentally braced himself as the door swung open. He really didn’t want to be here right now, but his stupid ass had left his lab report there the last time he was over. Had it been anything else, like a hoodie or something, Donghyuck would have left it. His physics lab report though? He was going back to get it even if it killed him. That stupid book was his lifeline and worth half of his grade.

Thankfully, when the door opened completely, he came face to face with his ex’s roommate and not his actual ex. He let out a relieved breath once he realized that he wouldn’t have to face Jaehyun today, his heart stopped drumming so frantically in his chest. 

“Hey, sorry to bother, but I’m here to pick up—,” he began to say, still listening to the rant that Renjun was currently going off on, but as he dragged his eyes up, Donghyuck felt his heart jump to his throat. 

He knew that Jaehyun shared the apartment with a roommate, but for the number of times he had been here, Donghyuck had never seen the said roommate once. 

“You’re Donghyuck, right? Jaehyun mentioned that you were probably stopping by to pick up some of your stuff.” The bright-eyed boy stared back at him, looking completely unreal as he leaned casually against the doorframe. 

Donghyuck was barely listening to what Renjun was talking about at the moment, he had lowered his phone to his side quite some time ago.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He managed to breathe out, because _what the fuck?_ Jaehyun had a roommate like this and he _never_ knew? He could have been banging his insanely _gorgeous_ roommate this entire time instead? 

There were a lot of things on Donghyuck’s to-do list that day and he might just have to put Jaehyun’s roommate on there because _oh my fucking god._

“Hyuck, are you even listening to me?” Renjun screeched at him through the phone. 

His cheeks burned as the boy before him smiled, eyes gleaming with amusement as he scrambled to end the call. “I’ll call you back.” Not bothering to even hear what else Renjun had to say, Donghyuck slipped his phone back into his pocket. 

“Your friend is going to be so pissed that you hung up on him like that.” The boy laughed, sending a jolt through his entire body. His laugh was the most precious thing he had ever heard. If someone told him that he would die right there, at this very moment, Donghyuck would be perfectly okay, because he just heard an angel’s laughter. 

Despite how fast his heart was racing, Donghyuck shrugged, attempting to appear as nonchalant as possible. “He’ll survive. He lectures my ears off even if I don’t cut him off, so it’s alright.” 

The boy laughed again and Donghyuck wanted to melt into the floor. “I’m Mark, by the way, and I should probably let you inside.” 

“Donghyuck.” He answered back as Mark opened the door a little wider for him to slip through. 

“Yeah, I know who you are.” Mark told him, words dripping with amusement. Tilting his head, he said, “Come on, your stuff is in my room.” 

“Wait. Why is it in your room?” 

“Jaehyun mentioned that you were going to stop by to grab some of your belongings. So, I offered to hold onto it until you came.” Mark explained with a tiny shrug. As they crossed the living room, he glanced over his shoulder, offering a small smile, “Plus, I figured that you would much rather see my face than your cheating ex, right?” 

If he thought that it was hard to breathe earlier, then it was nearly impossible now as he stood there, completely hypnotized by the way Mark’s cheekbones rose as he smiled, his eyes shining with the strength of a million splendid stars. 

Mark smiled in a way that _dared_ Donghyuck to fall in love with him. 

And Donghyuck was _never_ one to back down from a dare. 

So he followed in step right behind Mark, to his room. Once he was inside, Donghyuck noticed how different Mark’s room was in comparison to his roommate’s. For one, his bed actually had bedsheets on it. 

To that day, he wasn’t too sure what had happened to Jaehyun’s bedsheets. All that he knew was that one day, he came to visit and Jaehyun’s bed was stripped from its bedsheets, making sex incredibly uncomfortable. Sex on a bare mattress? That shit was awful, no matter how good it was. Donghyuck felt like he got a rug burn each time he visited. 

Sniffling back a giggle at the sight of the grey bed sheets, Donghyucked moved deeper into the room. Mark’s walls were covered with posters and pictures while his shelves were littered to the brim with all sorts of awards and trophies. Dead, smack, centered in his room was a Canadian flag, hanging proudly over his bed. There was even a brown moose chilling on his desk.

It was cute, Donghyuck thought. His room was much homier than Jaehyun’s. It was also a little messy, but it just meant that it was well lived in. 

He watched as Mark shoved aside a couple of items on his desk, clearing away a couple notebooks and papers, before Mark plucked his lab book out from the pile. “Here you go.” 

Donghyuck reached out for the book, and he made sure that their fingers brushed against each other. A shiver traveled from the tip of his fingers, all the way to his heart, making it skip a beat. Toes curling in anticipation, Donghyuck bit down on his lips, trying his hardest to suppress his smile, muttering out a quiet, “I’m sorry.” 

“No, you’re not.” Mark countered, a knowing smile spreading across his lips. 

Clutching onto his lab book, Donghyuck hummed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m so not sorry.” 

Mark’s smile reached his eyes at his words and Donghyuck swore that he saw the Milky Way in his dark eyes. They held the light and sparkle of a thousand shooting stars— absolutely breathtaking. He wanted to step closer to get a better look into them, so he did. 

When Mark showed no sign of backing away, he inched even closer, up until they were nearly chest to chest. The air around them buzzed and he felt electric. His heart hammered against his rib cage, threatening to burst, but he didn’t mind. Donghyuck liked it. It had been a while since he felt like this again, especially after his messy fallout with Jaehyun. 

Tossing his lab book right back to where it was, Donghyuck smiled back up at Mark and the longer that he stared into those beautiful eyes, a fire began to ignite under his skin. The fire burned all through his veins and blood, making his heart beat even faster than ever.

Donghyuck wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss him so bad, to taste his lips and commit it to memory. With the thought of kissing Mark on his mind, Donghyuck allowed his eyes to drop down to those plump lips.

They looked soft and Donghyuck took notice of how they shone a little. It was evident that Mark was an avid applier of lip balm, which Donghyuck loved. Nothing was worse than kissing a pair chapped lips. He would know because he kissed Jaemin once for a dare, and it was god awful. Jaemin and his espresso addiction made his lips drier than the Sahara desert. To that day, Donghyuck still didn’t know how Jeno dealt with it.

Body burning hotly, the air around them tensed, becoming heavy, _heated,_ Donghyuck slipped his hand onto Mark's shoulder, leaning in close. Words caressing Mark's lips, he said, "I _dare_ you to kiss me."

When their eyes locked, Donghyuck shivered at the spark that ran through his body. Mark leaned in a little closer until he could count every single eyelash. The skin above his hips, where Mark placed his hands, immediately caught on fire. "You say it like I wouldn't have done it without you asking me so."

"Then what's stopping you?" The warmth that was pooling in his stomach swirled and blossomed into something even bigger, making his chest heavy, until he could hardly breathe. A part of him burned so hot for Mark and Donghyuck was ready to do anything to put it out, even if it meant that he had to play with fire himself. "Do it. Kiss me."

And Mark did.

He was a fool to think that a simple kiss, a touch of Mark's lips against his own would be enough to sate the flames burning in his veins. He was so wrong to think so, because as Mark kissed him, the flames burned even more.

Mark kissed him so fiercely, leaving his lips raw even though it hadn't even been a minute yet. He was pulled flushed against Mark's body, letting him feel how fast Mark's heart was beating too. He smiled, knowing that Mark was feeling the same thing that he was— that Mark was just as _affected_ by the kiss as he was.

He held onto Mark like he was his lifeline, gripping tightly at his shirt that he nearly tore it under his fingers. They were close, but not close enough. Donghyuck wanted to burn until he could melt into him and become whole.

Donghyuck knew that he really shouldn't be kissing his ex's roommate like this, but he couldn't care less about the consequences that he'd have to deal with afterward.

He whined as Mark broke the kiss, opting to leave a trail of wet kisses down the column of his neck instead. Mark backed him up until he felt the edge of the bed knocking into the back of his knee. Without much resistance, he fell back, tugging Mark along with him.

Mark didn't stop kissing him, not even once. His lips continued to work against his skin, and Donghyuck could barely think. His mind was a jumbled mess and he heard Mark ask him something, but he wasn't sure what. The only thing that he could focus on at the moment was the heat that slowly took over his whole body and how good it felt to have Mark hovering over him like this.

With a hard tug, Donghyuck pushed Mark's body down onto his and _dear lord,_ the boy had a hard set of abs. Hands fisting at the hem of his shirt, Donghyuck bit out, "Off."

"So impatient, aren't we?" Mark laughed breathily. His voice was deep and raspy. It drove Donghyuck insane.

"Yes. I am." Donghyuck continued to yank at the bottom of his shirt, wanting nothing, not even the air to separate them. "Now off."

As he wished, Mark lifted his shirt and threw it onto the floor. Their skin barely lost contact before Mark was pressing against his body again and he moaned at the warmth of his skin. Mark slipped a hand underneath his own shirt as he went back to kissing him. The longer they kissed, the messier the kiss got. Their lips moved against one another so sloppily, more teeth than anything as their noses bumped, but neither of one of them cared.

He allowed his hand to touch those abs, sighing at the feel of them against the pad of his fingers. Donghyuck didn't know if his fingers were cold or if Mark was just trying to show off, but he felt the muscles underneath his hand flex. His head spun at the motion. 

Donghyuck spread his legs so that Mark could move into the little space between them, slotting his knee in between his thighs. He was super hyper-aware of how close Mark's knee was to his crotch. He should have known better than to wear jeans that day of all days, because right now, they were ridiculously tight, unbearable even. 

It seemed like Mark had taken notice of this since he mumbled against his lips, “Regretting your choice of pants today?” Pulling back for a split second, to throw a smug smile at him, Mark latched onto the side of his neck again, his teeth grazing right over his pulse point. 

“Oh, shut up.” Donghyuck moaned out when he felt Mark’s tongue against his skin. He dropped his hand from Mark’s abs to the waistband of his sweats, tugging on them impatiently. “These need to come off too—.” 

“I swear to god, Lee Donghyuck if you’re sucking Jaehyun’s dick off right now,” Renjun shouted as he swung the door open with a bang, announcing his arrival with fanfare. “I will fucking murder you— oh, you’re totally _not_ Jaehyun, because holy sweet, Adonis. What the fuck? Are those _eight_ packs?”

Surprisingly, Mark didn’t look one bit disturbed or annoyed by Renjun’s sudden appearance. Instead, he smiled down at Donghyuck once more before he removed his body from his, much to Donghyuck’s great dismay.

“I think so? I mean puddings only come in six-packs right?” Mark glanced at his abs once before laughing. 

“Actually, they do if you buy the massive packs from Costco but — what the fuck?” Renjun sputtered out, eyes still glued to Mark’s rock hard abs. 

Donghyuck was beyond peeved. He did not appreciate his best friend cockblocking him like this right now. Burying his face into the pillow that he was laying on, Donghyuck cried out, “Why the fuck are you here, Renjun? This is not the time for whatever it is that you want to do.” 

“Well, _excuse me,_ for being a decent best friend by stopping you from making bad decisions!” Renjun crossed his arms, glaring at him. “I told you that I would come for you if you spent more than five minutes in this apartment, which you did, exactly fifteen minutes over, so here I am.” 

“But that only applied to Jaehyun!” He continued to cry out. “Not Mark!” 

“I’m sorry, how the hell was I supposed to know that you were fooling around with his roommate and not Jaehyun. A text would have sufficed.” Renjun stated. Then he turned his attention over to Mark and smiled dashingly, “Oh, by the way, nice to meet you, Mark. Your abs are _superb_.” 

“Thank you and it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” 

He could not believe that this was really happening. His dick was throbbing in his tight ass jeans and judging from how Mark was laughing cheerily at whatever conversation was flowing between him and Renjun, Donghyuck knew that the mood was ruined. He threw ice daggers in Renjun’s direction, mentally screaming at him. It seemed like Renjun had caught onto his glares and decided that he should leave.

Once Renjun was out of the room, Donghyuck immediately reached out for Mark’s body. They had a ton of unfinished business left. “C’mere.” 

Mark hovered back over his body, but he made no move to start anything again. Instead, Mark smiled at him, his eyes sparkling, as he brushed back the stubborn baby hairs falling into Donghyuck’s eyes. “I think we’ve had a bit of fun already.”

“But I want more.” He pouted, jutting out his bottom lip for an extra measure. As he stared back into those dark eyes though, he knew that the moment that they had shared was long gone, just like he had assumed so. Plus, the fire that was burning through his veins had already subsided. 

Mark laughed, his shoulders shaking. “You’re adorable.” 

“Adorable enough to give me another kiss?”

“Sure, why not,” Mark replied before reconnecting their lips for another kiss. That time around, the kiss was much softer than it had been before, something that Donghyuck definitely wasn’t expecting. It made butterflies flutter in his stomach and dusting his cheeks in a pink hue. 

As Mark threw his shirt back on, he said, “You should also know that I don’t do sex until at least after the first date.” 

“Really now?” Donghyuck raised his eyebrows at the statement. He didn’t realize that Mark was conservative like that— well, maybe not that much, because the way Mark’s hands roamed his body earlier was anything but conservative.

“Yeah,” Mark nodded, his lips curved up into a smile. “So, how about seven tonight? Dress cute.” 

.

Mark arrived at his shared apartment with Renjun at exactly seven on the dot, which was pretty impressive because none of his previous dates, especially ones with his ex, were ever on time like that.

“Your dick appointment is here, Hyuckie!” Renjun hollered at him from the living room. 

“Can you not be so loud?” Donghyuck hissed. “He’s literally right behind that door.” 

“I mean, it is a dick appointment, is it not?” 

“Well, yeah, but that’s not the point!” He tried to argue but Donghyuck knew that it was pointless to do so, based on the judging look that Renjun was already throwing in his direction. With a long sigh, Donghyuck headed for the door. 

Not wanting for Mark to wait any longer, he threw open the door, prepared to apologize for Renjun’s foul mouth, but what he didn’t expect was for a bouquet of sunflowers to be shoved into his face. 

“For the pretty boy of the night.” Mark smiled at him. 

Donghyuck received flowers, maybe twice, in his entire life, and even then, they were never from a boy like this. The flowers he had received were from his family, once at a school play and then another time at his high school graduation. Despite being in a couple of relationships by now, he had never received any flowers. 

Stunned beyond belief, he stared at the beautiful bouquet extended out to him. He knew that he should probably reach out for it and say thank you, but his body was frozen. 

Thankfully, Renjun was there to save the day as he accepted the flowers on his behalf, saying, “I’ll get a vase for these.” On the way to the kitchen, Renjun made sure to knock into his hips once, to stir him out of his daze. 

Cheeks practically on fire, Donghyuck cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting that…” 

“Let me guess, first time getting flowers from someone other than your mom?” Mark asked him teasingly. 

“Yeah, something like that.” 

“That’s a shame. You deserve flowers every day of the week for how lovely you are.” 

Donghyuck was ready to combust on the spot, because how could Mark just say things like this and sprout it out so casually? For the first time in his life, he was completely rendered speechless. He couldn’t think of _anything_ to throw back at Mark; no snarky comments or rebuttals. Instead, he opted to take in Mark’s choice of attire for the night, a white dress shirt, tucked into a nice pair of black slacks, which by the way did wonders for his ass. It was _spectacular._

As he drew his eyes upwards, he noticed that Mark was also wearing some jewelry too. A dainty silver necklace around his neck, a cube-shaped charm hanging it, dipping into the middle of his collarbone. 

“Are you ready to go?”

Mark’s words ripped him out of his little unbashful gawking. Cheeks growing hotter by the second, Donghyuck dropped his gaze to the floor as he slipped on his shoes. “Yeah, let’s go.” 

He honestly didn’t think that he could feel any more embarrassed right at that moment, but he was proven wrong when Renjun hollered out then, “Have fun with your dick appointment, Hyuckie! Use protection!” 

Now, Donghyuck was sure that the entire apartment heard about his plans for the night. 

.

Donghyuck was glad that he chose to wear an ensemble similar to what Mark had worn for the date because Mark had chosen a pretty upscale place for their first date. For a supposedly broke-ass student, Mark sure did have an expensive taste for dates. 

They were lounging on a love seat on a fancy rooftop bar in the middle of the city when he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you do this for all of your one night stands?” 

Mark simply didn’t seem like the type of guy who would go through all this trouble for a single one night stand. Why would anyone blow off an entire paycheck for a quick night of pleasure? Not to mention, Mark seemed more like someone that just went for what he wanted instead of beating around the bush.

Donghyuck was genuinely curious.

“No, not really.” Mark took a sip of his red wine. Then shrugging, he added, “You’re just kind of special.” 

Peeking at him over the rim of the glass, Donghyuck eyed him wearily. “Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“As you should.” 

Unable to stop himself from asking another question, Donghyuck said, “But we are having sex after this, right?” 

Mark threw his head back and laughed, loudly. His laughter echoed out into the warm night, making a smile spread across his own lips. Mark’s laugh was so addictive. And the way that his nose did the little scrunch had his heart racing again, for a different reason this time around. 

“You’re really hell-bent on that, aren’t you?” 

“Yes. I have my priorities sorted out.” Donghyuck nodded, taking another sip from his glass, loving the way the sweet wine burned a little as it went down. Then clinking their glasses together, he said, “And you, sir, are at the top of the list.” 

“Well, I am flattered and I’ll make sure that I’m worth that spot on your list.” Mark winked at him and Donghyuck had half the mind to fuck him right then and there, on top of the rooftop bar, under the stars and moon. 

Drowning the rest of his wine, he placed it back down onto the table in front of them. Donghyuck eyed Mark’s still practically full glass with displeasure. The date had been really enjoyable, a lot more than he had expected it to be. But now, he was growing bored and impatient. Eyes flickering up to catch Mark’s raised eyebrow, he snatched the glass out of his hand and helped him finish it off. 

Setting the glass down beside his own empty glass, Donghyuck stood up, tugging Mark up along with him. “Come on, let’s go.” 

“Where are we going?” Mark asked him, but he followed along regardless, not seeming a bit faze by Donghyuck dragging out of the rooftop bar. 

“A place that’s more fun than here.” Donghyuck answered back, smiling as a game plan already pulled up in his mind. 

.

“You know, when you said that you’ll take me to a spot you knew,” Mark breathed out hotly, teeth grazing the shell of his ear. “I thought it would be another bar or club, not the bathroom.”

The marble sink was digging into his lower back, but Donghyuck paid no mind to it. As Mark left scalding kisses along his jawline, Donghyuck allowed his eyes to flutter shut. Once Mark got close to the sweet spot right below his ear, he tilted his head to the side, giving him even more access to his neck. 

“But it’s fun, isn’t it?” Donghyuck laughed, glancing at Mark through his lashes. Even with his hazy vision and head floating in the clouds, he could still see the way those ebony eyes burned so vibrantly, tearing into the very depth of his soul as he began to pop the first button of Mark’s shirt open. 

Mark hummed, the sound vibrating deep from his chest. “I guess it is.”

“Then what’s taking you so long to get me out of my pants?” Donghyuck groaned, fingers working a little faster against the buttons of Mark’s shirt still. “Hurry up.” 

The dress shirt had done well thus far, perfectly tight and fitted around Mark’s frame, showing how amazing his biceps and abs were. But right now, it was an unnecessary barrier. Donghyuck wanted it gone. He wanted to feel the fire of Mark’s skin pressed against his own. 

Mark licked at his pulse point once more before his lips found its way back to his ear before he blew in it, making Donghyuck shiver. 

He parted his lips to complain about all the teasing, but then Mark palmed him right through his tight slacks, giving him the friction that he had been craving for all night long. Mark captured his moan with a wet kiss, making his lips slick with saliva. 

Donghyuck hooked his ankles behind Mark’s back, pulling him as close as he could get him. “I want you, _now_.” 

.

He slammed the door behind him hard. 

Donghyuck was pissed. He wasn’t just pissed, he was straight up livid.

He listened as the driver’s door clicked shut, closing much softer than his own, before a light laugh reached his ears. “Oh, you can’t be mad at me, baby.” 

“Don’t fucking _‘baby’_ me, you shithead,” Donghyuck growled, arms crossing against his chest as he stared out the window. “I can’t believe you did that!”

“If I told you that I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to have sex before having a least a first date, what makes you think that I’ll be okay with us having sex in a public bathroom of some bar.” Mark continued to laugh at him, his eyes turning in little crescents as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I promise you that bathroom sex isn’t as amazing as everyone claims it to be. You’ll be thanking me later for saving you from it.” 

“You’re giving me blue balls.” He exhaled out exasperatedly. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Donghyuck threw Mark the nastiest glare he could muster. “This is the second time you’ve teased me like that! I am not pleased. You’re a fucking jerk, you know that?” 

Mark cooed at him, reaching over to pinch his cheeks. “You’re so stinking cute.”

“And you’re insufferable.” He bit back, his blood still simmering underneath his skin. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you tonight.” Mark promised, his tone a little smug as he dropped his hand onto his thigh, dangerously close to where he was straining _hard_ in his pants. Mark’s hand was hot against his thigh, but it wasn’t too bad. It was comforting warmth, almost _innocent_ even, but Donghyuck knew that it was far from it. 

Mark’s hand started to slide a little higher the longer they drove, his index finger drawing lazy circles on the inner part of his thigh. Sometimes, Mark would even pinch the skin there and roll it between his fingers. He only needed Mark to touch him like that a couple more times before he was completely breathless, writhing under his hand. 

Taking in the tiny smirk that was on Mark’s lips, Donghyuck rolled his eyes. Shoving Mark’s hand off of him, he quickly unbuckled himself and launched across the console, lips working it’s way up Mark’s neck. 

“Hey, what are you doing?” Mark tried to push him back into his seat, but he wasn’t having it. “Stop it, I’m driving right now. No funny business.” 

“You’re a hypocrite, do you know that?” Donghyuck mumbled against his skin, loving the way goosebumps began to pop from where his breath came out. Hands traveling down south, he dragged his fingers across his belt buckle, tugging on the metal accessory, undoing it. 

“Hyuck, you can not give me a blow job while I’m driving.” 

Gripping on to the belt tightly, he pulled it out from the belt loops with ease, casting it onto the floor at his feet. Then kissing Mark on the corner of his lips, Donghyuck taunted, “Is that a bet?”

“What? No, it’s not a bet. Stop—.” 

Donghyuck cupped him through his slacks, making Mark sputter, his knuckles turning white with how tight he was holding the steering wheel. Throwing his head back against the headrest, Mark glared at him. “Stop it.” 

“What if I don’t want to?” 

Mark didn’t say anything for a second as he pulled the car to a stop at a red light. Donghyuck was practically buzzing with excitement at what they could do in the minute and forty-seven seconds that they had before the lights would turn back to green. 

.

Mark’s hand was deep inside his pants way before they even made it back into Mark’s bedroom, stroking him at an agonizing pace. Donghyuck wanted to scream, but he was pretty sure that he would have plenty of chances to do that later that night. Mark quickly moved his lips from his mouth and began to trail wet kisses down the side of his neck, eliciting loud moans with each kiss. 

His dress shirt was barely hanging onto his body when Mark backed him up against the bed, pushing him into the mattress. Mark’s shirt had disappeared at some point when they stepped through the door and stumbled through the living room. 

There was a burning fire stirring in the pit of his stomach as he felt Mark’s other hand reach for his ass, giving it a light squeeze, and _wow,_ did it feel good. 

“You like that, don’t you?” Mark whispered into his ear, nibbling on his earlobe. 

“Yes.” Donghyuck threaded his fingers through the hair at the neck of Mark’s neck, pushing him deeper into the skin that he was kissing and biting. Eyes shut tight, he gasped when Mark wrapped his hand tightly around his dick, his thumb swiping right across his slit. “I want more.” 

Mark was quick to give him more. His pants were gone in a split second, pooling down at his ankles before Mark tossed them aside. Donghyuck wasn’t sure how Mark managed to do that one-handed because it always took him two hands to get those stupid slacks on or off. Mark’s hand never left his dick once, instead, it moved down to the base, where Mark gave him a good squeeze before pumping him a couple of times.

Then Mark’s mouth was around it, warm and hot.

“ _Fuck._ ” Donghyuck fisted the bedsheets, mouth falling opening as Mark swirled his tongue around the head once, then twice, before lapping up the precum. “Warn me next time before you do that.” 

Mark pulled his mouth off his dick with a resounding _‘pop,’_ grinning up at him widely. “Now where’s the fun in that?” He didn’t even give him time to come up with a witty comeback because Mark took him in full again. 

Donghyuck watched through half-lidded eyes, chest heaving, and his heart thumping in his ears as Mark wrapped his lips around the head of his dick, sinking on it inch by inch, until it hit the back of his throat. When Donghyuck felt a tongue pressing on the underside of it, he squirmed, his knuckles white against the grey sheets. Mark pulled up for a second before he went back down on it, head slowly bobbing, cheeks hollowing with every upstroke. Then as Mark said something, his voice causing vibrations around his dick, Donghyuck could hardly breathe. 

“What?” He tried to listen to what Mark was saying but his ears were ringing. 

“I said, are you ready for more?” Mark hummed around his dick. 

Donghyuck had no clue how the boy was able to even form words at the moment with how occupied his mouth was. Whenever he gave a blow job, Donghyuck could barely breathe, much less talk while doing so. 

Burying his face into the pillow, he sputtered out shakily, “Yeah, what kind of question is that?”

“I don’t know, _baby,_ you’re looking kind of wrecked.” Mark laughed, making him moan at the vibrations. 

“Just fuck me already for crying out loud!” 

“I bet I can make you come twice before I even dick you down.” 

Mark was way too cocky for his own good. Donghyuck figured that it was second nature to an all-star athlete like he was. They would win a couple games and it went straight to their head, fueling their already semi-massive ego. But, Donghyuck wouldn’t complain right now, because he liked it when guys were a little smug and overly confident in bed during sex. He found it hot— well, as long as they followed through with all their proud words. And Donghyuck had a feeling, Mark was more than _capable_ of doing so. 

“Talk a little less, and start doing it then. Your words aren't shit if you can’t last.” Donghyuck scoffed, eyes locking with Mark. 

There was a dangerous gleam in them as Mark stared back at him. They had turned pitch black, so dark that Donghyuck gulped. Despite being so dark, he could see a fire within them, stirring silently. The corners of Mark’s lips pulled upwards as he said, “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” 

Donghyuck’s cry died in his throat when Mark went down on him, sucking extra hard with each pullback. But that was nothing compared to what he felt when Mark circled his finger around his rim at the same time. His entire body was tensed, he clenched his thighs, trying to close them. 

Feeling his tenseness, Mark danced the pads of his fingers across his thigh, leaving goosebumps in his tracks as he worked the tenseness out of them, messaging it lightly. “Relax.” 

Donghyuck sucked in a deep breath before he tried unclenching his thighs. “Okay… I think I’m good.” 

Then Mark plunged a finger in, making him thrash against the bed at the sudden intrusion. Mark left it there for a second, unmoving, while his mouth continued to work its way around his dick. Mark’s hand was coated with lube, a little cold, but it wasn’t bad. No, it was _amazing_ and perfect. Donghyuck hadn’t had a clue when he had prep his fingers with it, but Donghyuck was glad that he did, because it made the slide so much smoother. He liked it smooth and wet. 

After what seemed like an eternity had passed, Mark finally moved his finger, pulling out once before pushing it back in, gently. He let out a sigh as Mark continued to stretch him out, relishing in the burn, but then Mark was pushing in another finger and he just about lost it. 

It was too much. Mark’s lips still wrapped around him and his fingers thrusting into him at a blowing rate. There was too much going on, Donghyuck knew that he was close to tipping over the edge. It seemed like Mark knew that too, because he began to pump his fingers in and out even faster and deeper until he was grazing at his prostate. Mark kept on prodding at that particular spot, giving it the attention that it deserved, sending shockwaves through his body. 

Donghyuck was gasping, fingers detaching from the grey sheets before they found purchase in Mark’s hair. “I’m going to come.” 

“Then do it.” Mark’s words vibrated around him and that was all it took from him to make him see stars behind his eyelids. 

Mark continued to stretch him out, fingers scissoring him wide open as he rode the waves of pleasure out. He was limp against the bed as Mark sucked him dry, before moving up to kiss him squarely on the lips. Donghyuck could taste himself on Mark’s lips, a little bitter, and that made the arousal in his stomach flare up again. 

“Ready for another round before we get to the good stuff?” Mark mumbled against his lips, still kissing him in a bruising manner. 

“Give me your best shot, _pretty boy._ ” Donghyuck replied back, out of breath as he swiped his tongue across Mark’s lips, coaxing them to open for him.

At his words, Mark pulled his fingers almost completely out, making him buckle his hips to chase after them, before Mark thrusted it back in, deep. Soon, he was adding a third finger, stretching him real good. Mark was aiming for his sweet spot and he hit it every time with ridiculous accuracy. As he did this, Mark was kissing his neck lazily, sometimes even poking his tongue out to lick it. Donghyuck knew that he was going to wake up to a whole canvas of purple bruises on his neck. 

His body was shaking from the overstimulation, but it was _so_ good. Mark barely gave him any time to recover from the first orgasm and at the pace that Mark was pulling his fingers in and out of him, Mark was determined to have him come again, soon. He was worked out so well, stretched and exposed. He was wet and _ready._

“Okay, no more fingering.” Donghyuck gripped onto Mark’s bicep. “I want you inside of me.” 

Mark looked down at him, chest heaving as hard as his own, pupil blown wide. Cheeks a perfect shade of red, he nodded. “Sure.” Then he was pulling his hand back, fingers slipping out. Donghyuck moaned at the loss, his hips stuttering. 

Donghyuck watched as Mark reached into his bedside table, grabbing a condom and a bottle of lube. He swallowed when Mark ripped the metallic packet up, stepped out of his pants, and rolled the condom right over his own dick. His eyes were glued to the way Mark prepared himself, drizzling a generous amount of lube onto his hand, spreading it across his fingers. Donghyuck knew that it was going to be so wet, messy, and he was so ready for it. With how good Mark had stretched him, the slide was going to be fucking _smooth_ and easy. 

When Mark came back over, his body hovering over him, he asked, “You ready?” 

“More than ever,” he hummed out in response. “Now, fuck me good.”

Mark slipped a hand behind the nape of his neck, leaning down to kiss him as his other hand spread his legs out a little wider for him to slip in between. The hand on his thigh kneaded the skin there as Mark aligned himself up. Then Mark slid in with one hard thrust. 

As Donghyuck had expected, the slide was so _good._

He felt so hot, Donghyuck was sure that he was being burned alive, because Mark’s dick was unreal. He had a feeling that Mark just about ruined him for any other dick he was going to get after that. Mark probably ruined the idea of sex with anyone else for him too, because that was best he ever had. His hands found purchase on Mark’s shoulders, nails digging deep into the skin as he tried to anchor himself.

When Mark finally bottomed out, Donghyuck felt like all the air in his lungs disappeared and his head was a little light. 

“Damn, you’re tight as hell, even after all of that.” Mark said breathlessly, eyebrows knitting together as his mouth parted open. “You okay for me to move?”

_“God, please.”_

Mark pulled back again, thrusting in shallowly, sinking in at such a good angle as Donghyuck clenched around his dick. Both of them moaned at the move. Then Mark was repeating the same movement over and over again, until they both fell into a good rhythm; Mark pushing in hard and Donghyuck’s hip meeting halfway. 

Their hearts were beating in sync with each other, hammering into their rib cages. The sound of skin against skin in combination with their breathy gasps for air and moans made the air around them electrifying. 

The hand that Mark had on his thigh urged him to spread his legs a little wider and he did it without hesitation because it would cause Mark’s dick to slip in a little deeper until it was brushing against his prostate. Unable to help himself, Donghyuck angled his hips upward, searching for the right angle for Mark to hit it dead on with each thrust. Seeing his need, Mark settled his hands on his hips, positioning in the desired angle. 

Donghyuck threw his head back against the pillows, eyes squeezing shut as his body burned. “Why have I been fucking your roommate when you’re literally next door?” Mark hit his prostate again, hard, nearly sending him over the edge yet again, “Oh, my god.” 

Mark reached in between their bodies and grabbed a hold of his dick, starting to fist him off. His thrusts were borderline ruthless at that point, slamming into him with precision. It continued to go deeper with each thrust, something that Donghyuck didn’t even think was possible.

Their kisses were so messy, mostly teeth and spit. Mark continued to hit his prostate over and over again with every snap of hips and Donghyuck felt so _fucking good._ He knew that Mark was close, judging by how he took less time with each thrust into him. Even Mark’s hand on his dick was moving shorter, faster, and harder.

Stars were dancing permanently in his line of vision and the fire in his veins increased by a ten-fold. The warmth in his stomach was coiling up, overflowing with heat. His dick was throbbing in Mark’s hand and he was clenching so hard around Mark’s dick, he knew that he was close. 

Even with his energy draining to nothing, Donghyuck forced his eyes open to stare at Mark. Mark, who was pushing into him with furrowed brows and sweat glistening skin, his dark hair matted against his forehead. Donghyuck had never seen such a sexy sight. Mark’s cheeks were red as the fire in the deepest pit of hell and the veins on his arms were bulging from how fast their heart was racing. 

“I’m close.” His voice was hoarse as he said this, starting to snap his hips to meet with Mark’s thrust. 

“Yeah, I know. Me too.” Mark breathed out, hand working fast on his dick. “But, you first.” 

Mark gave him one stroke, then two, then his whole body tightened and he was cumming harder than ever. Stars exploded behind his eyelids and his vision was pure white. Mark’s name fell from his lips like a mantra as waves of euphoria traveled throughout his body. 

Mark followed right behind him, only thrusting a few more times, before he, too, came. Mark’s body landed on his and he was groaning into the curve of his neck. 

Donghyuck didn’t come down from his high for a couple of minutes, his lungs screaming and burning for air. Mark’s skin was sweaty and the place between their abdomens was sticky with his own cum, but Donghyuck couldn’t bring himself to be bothered. He brought his hand up and wrapped it around Mark’s body to press him deeper into his skin, so that he could feel Mark’s racing heartbeat against his. That created an even bigger mess between them, but Mark didn’t seem to mind either as he returned the action, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck’s body too, bringing him close. 

“When you told me that you’d make me cum twice before you did, I honestly didn’t believe you,” Donghyuck spoke first. Running a finger up and down Mark’s spine, he fixed his eyes on the ceiling fan. “Because even Jaehyun wasn’t able to do that.” 

“Well, I’m not Jaehyun, am I?” Mark’s breaths came out in hot pants against his skin, sending a shiver through his body. “Also, can we not talk about another dude, even if it’s my roommate, when I’m still inside of you?” 

“Why not?” Donghyuck laughed. 

“I’m trying to enjoy the moment.” 

“It was that good, huh?” 

“Super fucking good.” Mark hummed. 

They laid there like that, unmoving for a couple more minutes until Mark lifted himself off of his body, finally catching his breath, and pulled out. Donghyuck let out a whine at the sudden loss, making Mark shake his head, a small smile slipping onto his lips. He watched as Mark started to clean himself up, sliding the condom off his dick, tying it, and tossing it into the trash bin under his desk in one fluid motion. 

Mark slipped into a pair of random sweats before he went out of the room. Donghyuck caught the sound of water running in the bathroom and sighed. Taking one look at the mess he made on himself, he groaned. Throwing his arm over his eyes, he knew that it was going to be a pain in the fucking ass to clean up. But then he heard Mark’s footsteps entering back into the room before the bed dipped under his added weight. 

Donghyuck shuddered at the feeling of a cold wet cloth sliding down his stomach as Mark cleaned him up. He removed his arm and watched as Mark took care of him. There was a strange feeling bubbling up in his chest as he did so. 

Mark tossed the wet cloth into his laundry basket once he was done, moving to throw a blanket over Donghyuck’s naked body. His heart skipped a beat as Mark moved to tangle his hand back into his locks, running his fingers through them, attempting to make his hair a little bit less messy. His heart practically exploded when Mark leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. 

Mark gave him a lazy smile, eyes sparkling. Then he was moving from the bed, digging through his drawers, looking for a shirt. 

Donghyuck was usually one to bounce right after a one night stand, but he was drained. Mark had worn him the _fuck_ out. Donghyuck felt like he couldn’t even move his legs. He also figured that Mark wouldn’t mind if he crashed and stayed for the night. Mark had been nothing less than a gentleman thus far. 

Donghyuck half expected Mark to go join him on the bed again once he threw on a shirt, but to his surprise, Mark was also slipping into a pair of socks. “You’re leaving?” He asked incredulously, eyes growing wide. 

Mark nodded. “Yeah, I have a night practice with the football team. Some muscle training and scrimmage.” 

“What?” Donghyuck wheezed. There was no way in hell Mark was going to work out right now, especially after what they had just done. “How the fuck are you not tired?” 

Mark’s smile widened. Then he was crossing the room in long strides, knees pressing into the bed. “I’m good.” He kissed Donghyuck on the temple once more, saying, “See you in a little. Feel free to use and take whatever you need.” Mark sent him a wink over his shoulder before he disappeared through the door. 

“What the hell?” Donghyuck wondered because Mark’s stamina was fucking insane. 

Giving up on trying to figure out why Mark was still able to move while he was nothing but a puddle of goo, Donghyuck snuggled deeper into the warm blankets, not caring that he was breaking his usual habit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up soon! (next couple of days?) Until then, scream in the comment section with me because I can't believe I just wrote that... someone splash me with some holy water... 
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/markeuhyuckie/status/1239041276454076417?s=20) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/markeuhyuckie)


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of bets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This definitely spiraled into a monster of a chapter. I totally blame Tay for how long this chapter became. I was honestly thinking I could end it around 5K? But then this happened... hahaha. There was honestly more that I wanted to add, but I decided to stop it from getting any longer, and just add it to the next chapter.
> 
> A lot more plotty and full of feels than I had intended, but what can I say? The fluff is just embedded too deeply into my soul. I just can't not write it. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this lengthy chapter!
> 
> Thank you to Isis for betaing!

The sound of the shower water running was the first thing that Donghyuck heard. Not wanting to get up yet, Donghyuck buried his face deeper into the pillows and tugged the comforter over his head, hoping to block out the sound of Mark coming out of the shower. When Mark came back into the room, his footsteps soft against the carpeted floors, Donghyuck tried to steady his breathing as best as he could, pretending to still be asleep.

Donghyuck was whole-heartedly prepared for Mark to shake him awake and kick him out. So, it took him completely by surprise when Mark pulled the comforter back, but instead of yanking it off of his body, Mark tucked it underneath his chin instead. He listened as Mark moved to the other side of the bed and slipped under the covers, right into the empty space beside him. He was even more taken aback when he felt Mark's warm body pressed up against him as a hand snaked its way around his waist, tugging his closer.

His heart was in his throat at that point and he could hear how hard his heart was thundering in his ears. Donghyuck could only hope that Mark couldn't hear it. He assumed that Mark didn't because not much later, Mark's breathing had already evened out and he was fast asleep.

Seeing this, Donghyuck daringly opened his eyes and he found himself staring right into Mark's chest. Thankfully, Mark was someone who slept with a shirt on because Donghyuck wasn't quite sure what he would have done if he was faced with seeing Mark's hard-rock abs again.

Letting out a breath that he didn't know that he was holding, Donghyuck tried to relax, which was a lot easier than he had expected. With the way Mark's breathing was coming out in even puffs of air and his body radiating off so much warmth, it was easy for sleep to overcome Donghyuck's body.

.

When he woke up again, the sun was shining through the window blinds ruthlessly and into his eyes. Groaning at the brightness, Donghyuck buried his face back under the blanket. His body was sore and everything ached terribly. As he closed his eyes again, fully intent on falling back asleep, the sound of his phone vibrating against the bed reached his ears.

"No...," Donghyuck tried to ignore the incessant buzzing, praying that the person on the other line could take the hint that he didn't want to be contacted at the moment. But that didn't happen, because his phone continued to buzz for the next two minutes.

He felt Mark beginning to stir next to him, his hand reaching out blindingly across the covers in search for the buzzing device. Donghyuck hoped that Mark would just silence the call for him, but the next thing he knew, his phone was pressed up against his ear, as Renjun's loud voice echoed out, " _ Lee Donghyuck!  _ Where the hell are you?"

He winced at the volume that Renjun was screaming at. He wasn't quite sure what time it was, but Donghyuck knew that it was seriously way too early for Renjun to be lecturing him already.

"You didn't come back last night — like at all." Renjun continued on, voice louder than an alarm clock. "How bad did he fuck you up? You  _ always _ come back after your one night stands."

Donghyuck sighed. Renjun wasn't wrong, he always came back to their shared apartment, no matter how late it was, except for last night. "It was good, like  _ really  _ good."

When he said this, Donghyuck felt something warm brush up against his legs and it was only then that he realized that his legs had gotten tangled up with Mark's sometime in the middle of the night. He also took notice of how Mark's arm was still slung loosely around his waist and his head was pressed up to Mark's chest instead of a pillow.

It was a clear indication that they cuddled at some point in the night, which was a major ' _ what the fuck'  _ moment for him. He looked up at Mark's face for an answer, but he got nothing because Mark’s eyes were still closed. Mark was obviously awake since he was the one that was holding his phone up for him, but that was it.

"Okay. I want details later tonight." Renjun commented. "But the real reason I'm calling you is to ask if I need to take an extra set of notes for you for analytical?"

"Analytical?" Donghyuck repeated, his mind missing the connection completely.

"Yeah, Hyuck, analytical. You know, our shared lecture, at eight?"

"Oh,  _ fuck." _

"Yeah. I had a feeling you would forget."

"Don't we have that report due today too?" Donghyuck groaned again, burying his face deep into Mark's chest. "I haven't added in the graphs for mine yet."

"I did. You're welcome."

"Seriously?" Donghyuck opened his eyes in shock. Smiling sleepily, he said, "Renjun, I love you. You're the best."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'll turn it for you too." Renjun told him. "I'll take an extra set of notes for you too, now go back to whatever you were doing with Mark."

Apparently, he was cuddling Mark before Renjun called him, so that was exactly what Donghyuck went back to doing, after he ended the call and Mark tossed his phone back to the side. Mark's fingers were threading its way through his messy locks when he pushed his face back into Mark's chest, taking a deep breath of Mark's laundry detergent.

It smelled  _ divine. _

.

The third time that Donghyuck woke up, the room was a lot brighter than earlier and the background music of Super Smash Bros was playing. When he opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was the screen of a Nintendo switch right in his face. His face was still pressed against Mark's chest and Mark's arms were still wrapped around his body.

"I never pegged you as a Kirby player," Donghyuck spoke out, his voice all scratched up and sounding awful.

A laugh rippled through Mark's body, making Donghyuck feel its vibration with how he was pressed up against him.

"What's wrong with using Kirby?" Mark asked him, fingers pressing the buttons intensely as he tried to fight the other players.

"Nothing. You seemed more of a Daisy player."

"Daisy?" Mark laughed out loud. Pausing the game to smile down at him, he said, "I think Daisy fits you a lot more than me."

"Me?  _ Daisy? _ I'm more of a Peach." Donghyuck tried to argue.

"Nah, I get more Daisy vibes from you. If anything, it should be flipped. I'm Peach and you're Daisy." Mark continued to explain. "Daisy is totally you. Like not even getting down to the stats, just pure appearance-wise, Daisy is totally all you. Everything bright and cute."

Mark's uncanny ability to render him speechless and make him flustered beyond belief was incredible. He barely spent more than a day with him and this would have to be the fifth time that he made Donghyuck feel like this.

His body was practically catching on fire, so Donghyuck ducked out from Mark's embrace, tugging the covers along with him as he stood up. He searched the room for his clothes, trying his best to avoid Mark's warm gaze as he did so. Once he caught sight of his wrinkled dress shirt, Donghyuck scooped it up, along with the rest of his other clothes.

"I'm going to use your shower real quick," he mumbled out as he made the track across the room.

"Sure. Use whatever you want." Mark hummed, the sound of the Super Smash Bros filling the air again.

.

Donghyuck had a situation.

"Please tell me that you're not going in like that," Renjun asked him, eyes wide.

Confused, Donghyuck looked down at his outfit. He didn't think that anything in particular was wrong with it. He was wearing a purple shirt and a pair of neon orange shorts with a set of matching flip flops. Okay, maybe the color combo was a bit much, but he didn't think that it was  _ that  _ atrocious.

"What's wrong with my outfit? I wear ridiculous colors every day, this isn't that much of an eyesore. If you want an eye sore, you should have seen what Jisung wore the other day. He was  _ vibrant." _

"Nothing is wrong with your outfit." Renjun rolled his eyes, sighing deeply. "But you do realize where we're about to go, right?"

"Yeah, we're heading to the lab. We've made it through half the semester already, Renjun. I'm pretty sure I know my class schedule now."

"We're heading to the lab and you're about to walk in there, looking like  _ this _ ?"

"Of course! What else — ," Donghyuck began to exclaim but as he took notice of Renjun's sweatpants and sneakers, he stopped. Eyes dropping back down to his own outfit, he gasped. "Ah, fuck. I am so not in lab protocol."

"Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure shorts and especially flip flops, aren't allowed." Renjun teased him. "Well, you have like ten minutes to figure this out."

Hands clasped together in front of his chest, Donghyuck used his puppy dog eyes and pleaded, "Please tell me you have some extra clothes with you that I can borrow again."

Renjun shook his head. "Sorry, Hyuck. You're on your own this time around. Chenle asked for them earlier today."

"You're kidding." Donghyuck gasped. 

"Nope."

"It's hot as hell today! I didn't think about the lab when I got dressed this morning for the lecture."

"And you said that you knew your class schedule." Renjun snickered, shaking his head. "The lab today is worth a huge chunk of our grade. I really can't save you this time either because it's all individual work." Waving Donghyuck goodbye, Renjun started to walk into the lab along with the other students. "See you on the other side, Hyuck!"

"You fucking traitor!" Donghyuck screamed after him, causing a couple of heads to turn his way, but he couldn't care less at what the other students thought of him. He had a situation at hand and Renjun wasn't going to help him. Taking a peek at his phone, Donghyuck saw that he had exactly seven more minutes to figure this all out, before he was screwed, and not in a good way either.

Racking through his brain, Donghyuck tried to come up with a solution, well more like seeing who he could call to save him. Chenle and Jisung were a no go, they were both in lab still. Jeno and Jaemin weren't much help either, they texted the group chat earlier that day saying that they were going to go off campus for lunch. And knowing those two, they probably went somewhere way out of the city. All of his other hyungs were still in class, there was no way any of them would dip out to save him right now.

Teeth gnawing on his bottom lips, Donghyuck continued to scroll through his contacts, trying to find someone to save the day.

As if the heavens above had taken pity on him, Mark's name popped up. Before his mind could process what he was doing, he had already sent Mark a text,  _ 'I dare you to trade clothes with me.' _

Mark's reply was instant.  _ 'What? Right now?' _

_ 'Yes, right now. You have five minutes.' _

_ 'What the fuck? I don't even know where you're at.' _

_ 'Chemistry building, third floor. I'll share my location.' _

.

Mark was completely out of breath by the time he rounded the corner, nearly knocking Donghyuck right off of his feet. Mark's cheeks were flushed as he skidded to a stop right in front of him.

"Whoa, you look like you just ran a marathon," Donghyuck commented, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance.

"I might as well have," Mark said, chest heaving. "I was on the other side of campus, getting out of econ."

His mouth dropped wide open. "Dude, you were in fucking  _ Neo Hall _ ? Neo is legit on the other side of campus. That's like a twenty-minute walk from here."

"Yeah, I know."

Still gasping, he looked down at his phone, checking the time. "It's been like four minutes since I last texted you."

"I booked it over here. You told me I had five minutes." Mark breathed through his nose, trying his hardest to regain his breathing.

"You're insane, do you know that?" Donghyuck couldn't help but laugh. Mark really was insane. He turned a twenty minute walk into a four-minute sprint? That was wild. Donghyuck could never. And it was all for a dare too. Mark was so insane.

"I've been told. Now, was there a legit reason why you made me sprint across campus like a mad man to come here to trade clothes with you or?"

Donghyuck cursed himself for forgetting the whole point of the dare. "There is. I have lab and I can't go in there looking like this. They would kick me out before I could even get one foot in."

Mark gave his outfit a once over, nodding, "Nice outfit, but definitely not lab appropriate man. Shorts? It happens. But flip flops,  _ really? _ That's the biggest no no for the lab since kindergarten."

"I know! Don't lecture me too." Donghyuck pouted. "It's hot, alright? I didn't think about the lab when I got dressed this morning."

"Come on, you dork, let's get you changed." Mark wrapped his fingers around his wrist and began tugging him into the nearest bathroom. "You're lucky I decided to wear sweats even on this hot ass day. Or else you would have been super fucked."

"I mean, you could still do that to me, after lab." Donghyuck commented mindlessly, biting back the smile that was tugging on his lips.

Mark simply threw him a hard look before he began to kick off his shoes and tossed them in Donghyuck's direction. "Shut up and change. You only have a couple minutes left, dumb ass."

Quickly shimming into the pair of sweats that Mark was handing off to him, Donghyuck thanked him. "You're literally my savior, if you didn't know already."

"Yeah, yeah. Just change." Mark hustled him along, pushing him out the door the moment he managed to get the other shoe onto his feet.

.

He figured that Mark would have gone off and done something else while he was in lab, because it was over two hours long. Donghyuck was surprised to see the boy standing right outside the door when he walked out with Renjun at his side.

"I would have never done that for him," Renjun said as he looked at the neon pair of shorts that Mark was now sporting. "You would catch me dead before you would catch me wearing those ridiculous shorts."

Shrugging, Mark tugged at them. "They're alright, could have been worse, like neon-colored and hawaiian printed. Now,  _ that _ would have been an eyesore."

"He's totally a keeper." Donghyuck heard Renjun mumble before he pushed him forward, so that he could stand right next to where Mark was.

"I'll see you kids, later! Have fun!" Renjun hollered at him before he began walking away, heading towards his next class. Before he disappeared behind the corner though, Renjun made sure to wink at him and make some rated hand gestures with his hands.

Donghyuck had half the mind to chase him down and strangle him, but Mark's laugh stopped him from doing so. Turning around to face him, Donghyuck said, "You really didn't have to wait around for me. I was going to stop by your place to return it anyways."

"Yeah, but Jaehyun's there right now with his new boyfriend." Mark told him. "Figured you wouldn't want to see that."

Donghyuck winced at the mere mention of his ex. Yeah, he did not want to face that just quite yet. It seemed like his obvious disgust made its way onto his face because Mark laughed again.

"That's what I thought."

With nothing else to say in regards to that topic, Donghyuck asked instead, "Did you really stand out here this entire time?"

"No, I left to buy us dinner. I hope you like thai, because that's what I got." Mark said as he held up a bag full of take out in his hand.

"So, wait, you're telling me that you went out in public, looking like that?" He shrieked, mouth gaping wide. There was no way Mark would have subjected himself to that kind of embarrassment.

Mark shrugged. "I mean you walked around campus looking like this, why can't I?"

"I don't know. It looks like ten times worse on you than me. I didn't realize how goddamn blinding those shorts were. I probably looked like a walking highlighter this entire time and no one stopped me."

"It makes you more eye-catching." Mark winked, a shit-eating grin spreading across his lips. 

Donghyuck was so close to smacking him straight to the ground but at the last second, Mark moved to the side and dodged it. It did nothing but caused his cheeks to burn even hotter. Not sparing Mark a single glance, he began to stalk off, listening to the way Mark footsteps quicken to catch up to him. “Let’s get out of here before we blind someone with your outfit.”

Mark swung an arm around his shoulder, pulling him in close. “You mean  _ your  _ outfit.” Laughing heartily, Mark added, “Trust me, you wouldn’t catch me owning a piece of clothing that is this bright,  _ ever.” _

That time around, Donghyuck didn’t hold back when he brought his hand up to slap Mark away. 

.

Donghyuck never knew why he ever agreed to tag along with Jaemin to the gym. He really shouldn’t have said yes, because now he was all hot and sweaty. It was absolutely disgusting. He never understood why so many of his friends were so obsessed with going to the gym daily. He probably stepped foot inside the university’s fitness center maybe twice a year. 

Completely winded after following along with the sets that Jaemin was doing, he decided to call it quits. “If I do one more, my arms will actually break off.” 

“You barely even did ten sets, Donghyuck.” Jaemin laughed at him as he continued to move onto his next sets of weight lifting. He didn’t even break a sweat as he did so. 

“The only lifting that I do is when I lift my spoon to my mouth. Anything else is unnecessary.” 

“And that’s why you got some noodle arms.” 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes at Jaemin’s words. Sitting down on one of the spare benches, he waited for Jaemin to finish up. Twisting his water bottle open, he eagerly drank up the cold liquid. As Donghyuck took a moment to catch his breath, he swept his eyes over the rest of the room. Similar to Jaemin, everyone else in the room— not surprisingly, was going at it with their workout routine. He continued to move his eyes across the room, until he caught sight of a strikingly familiar back, one that he had been getting  _ very  _ familiar with in the past couple of weeks. 

A smile instantly made its way onto his lips when he caught sight of Mark’s face when he turned to the side to say something to his friend. Tossing his water bottle back into his bag, he shouted back at Jaemin, “I’ll be right back.”

“You better not fucking ditch me again!” Jaemin called out, but Donghyuck ignored him. 

Mark was in the middle of doing a burpee set when Donghyuck decided to jump onto his back, legs wrapped tightly around his waist, hanging off of Mark’s body like a koala. Without warning, he stuck out his tongue and licked a strip of skin on Mark’s neck. 

“Hyuck, what the fuck?” Mark tried to shove him off but he simply held on tighter. Throwing him a glare, Mark said, “And that’s disgusting.” 

“No, it was  _ yummy,” _ Donghyuck whispered hotly into his ears, relishing the way Mark’s ears turned bright red in response. 

“Why are you here? You don’t seem like someone who would go to the gym for fun.” Mark breathed out. Mark’s heart was hammering against his hands from where they were placed, proof of how much he was working out. “No offense though.” 

“None taken,” Donghyuck replied back breezily. Then waving his hands in a lazy manner in the direction of where he left Jaemin, he added, “Jaemin dragged me along.” 

“Figured.” Mark slipped his hands underneath his thighs, helping him stay upright on his back. “Why haven’t you bolted out of here while you had the chance?”

“Because I saw you and I’m bored.” 

“What do I have to do with anything relating to your boredom?” Mark turned around to ask him, smiling back at him. 

Lips brushing across the shell of Mark’s ear, he blew into it once before saying, “I dare you to finish out the rest of your workout while I’m on your back.” Leaning away though, he glared at Mark, “And don’t you dare call me fat either.” 

Mark shook his head, bemused. “Light as a feather.” 

“Then, this should be easy.” 

Beside them, Johnny laughed loudly. "Man, he keeps you on your toes, doesn't he?" 

Donghyuck smiled cheekily at Johnny, a Cheshire grin on his face. "You know it." 

Johnny spared the two of them another look before shaking his head, muttering, "Crazy ass kids," as he plugged his AirPods back in and went back to what he was doing. 

"Come on, let's get going, Mark. I'm hungry." Donghyuck chided as he gave Mark a particularly hard slap to his abdomen, nearly knocking the wind out of him. 

Mark sputtered, coughing as he tried to breathe through the pain. Holding onto his thighs tightly though, Mark shifted him a little, making sure that he wouldn't fall off. "You know this would end so much quicker if you would just let me do this on my own?" 

"Nah, where's the fun in that?" He countered. Then leaning in, he pressed his lips to Mark's cheeks, even going an extra mile to make a loud ass ' _ smooch'  _ sound.

"Alright, let's just get this over with..." Mark replied, sounding a little bit less energetic than before. “Well, hold on tight, I guess." 

Donghyuck squeezed his arms tightly around Mark's neck, nearly suffocating him, but he held on tight just like Mark asked him to. "Let's do this, baby." 

  
  


.

Mark was thoroughly beat by the time he was done with his workout. He had tried his hardest not to show that he wasn't on the verge of dying but Donghyuck knew better. Donghyuck would have died right after doing just one regular burpee, much less a whole set of them while having someone else hanging off of him the entire time.

Donghyuck felt kind of bad afterward, watching the way Mark lazily shoved all of his belongings into his bag without care, feet heavy against the floor as he walked.

"I know you said you were hungry, but I'm gross and stinky," Mark said when they entered his apartment. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when he pinched his sweat ladened shirt off of his body. Combing his fingers through his matted hair, Mark tried his best to make it look a little better but it didn't do much. "We can go out afterward." 

"Same." Donghyuck took a quick whiff of his sweaty shirt and grimaced. "You wouldn't mind if I borrow some clothes again, would you?" 

Mark was already inside the bathroom when he answered, his words getting muffled by the sound of the shower running. "Yeah, go ahead. You know where everything is."

And he did. 

Donghyuck had spent quite a bit of time over at Mark's place by now. Of course, only when Jaehyun wasn't home. It had been a month or so since they had broken up, but Donghyuck didn't want to see Jaehyun's face again so soon. Maybe another week, then he'd be okay. But for now, Donghyuck didn't want to see it at all, so he avoided any possible confrontation with his ex as much as he could.

Digging around through the drawers, he went on a hunt for his favorite shirt, Mark's faded Vancouver tee. Mark had worn it so many times that the white letters were barely readable. Catching sight of it pushed near the back of the drawer, Donghyuck grabbed it out with a smile. It seemed like Mark just did his laundry because the shirt was extra soft and smelled heavenly. 

He picked a random pair of sweatpants from the bottom drawer, not really caring which one he grabbed because he knew that where they were going to eat couldn't be that fancy. It was a weekday, a Thursday night, and Mark was exhausted. There was no way they were going anywhere nice that night. 

Speaking of Mark, Donghyuck felt pretty guilty still for putting him through all that strenuous workout. Maybe it wasn't the greatest dare he ever came up with, but there got to be some really bad ones to switch things up a little, right? As his mind wandered back to the way Mark's back muscle rippled underneath of his hands, feeling all those hard lines as he did those push ups, Donghyuck felt his throat run dry. 

With the image of the way Mark's muscle rose to the surface each time he moved, veins bulging, and sweat glistening on his pale skin, Donghyuck headed straight towards the bathroom. He was on a mission.

Donghyuck slipped through the doors, not really bothering to be the least subtle as he entered. He quickly took off his clothes and pulled the shower curtain harshly to the side. 

"What are you— I'm not finished yet, Hyuck." Mark was startled, spinning around to face him with wide eyes, the remnants of shampoo still in his hair. 

The water was scalding hot against his skin. Donghyuck would have rather taken his shower under a cooler temperature but right now, he didn't mind. Right now, he was focused on Mark and Mark only. 

Lips crashing into Mark’s without warning, Donghyuck pushed Mark back until he was up against the tiled walls, a soft  _ 'humpf' _ leaving his lips. Fingers crawling up his blazing skin to work themselves into Mark's wet hair, he kissed Mark even harder, tongue coming out to swipe at his bottom lip before pushing past them completely. 

Donghyuck kissed Mark with intent, feverishly so, all tongue and spit. It was messy, but so good. 

Mark's hands came up to rest on his hips, trying to flip their positions, but Donghyuck was having none of that— at least, not today. Today, he wanted the upper hand. He wanted to be the one in control. He wanted to make Mark feel  _ good. _

He untangled his fingers from the hair at the nape of Mark's neck and placed them on his chest, shoving him back against the tiled wall of the shower once again. Lips never leaving Mark's, he mumbled, "No, you just need to relax." 

The water dripped down Mark's chest, leaving wet trails all the way to his abs. As he brushed his fingers across them, the muscle clenched underneath his hands again. Donghyuck nearly fainted. Mark being this fucking toned and fit was too much, it should honestly be illegal to have a body like that. 

He continued to move his lips roughly against Mark's, nipping and biting them every chance that he got. Donghyuck kissed him until his lips were numb and his lungs burned, but he didn't stop, not even when his knees threatened to buckle as Mark dragged his fingers down the back of his spine. 

Not feeling like he could stand up right anymore. Donghyuck pushed against Mark's shoulder, urging him to slide down the wall until they were both on the floor of the shower. He immediately straddled Mark when he sat down, rolling his hips downwards at the same time. Loving the way the soft moans slipped from Mark's lips, he grinded down on his lap once more. 

Mark hadn't bothered to put up a fight against his bruising kisses and blazing touches. For once, Mark was completely pilant underneath him, letting him do as he pleased. Mark simply moved his lips lazily against his own and his fingers holding onto his waist gently. 

When he finally felt like they needed to part for some air, Donghyuck moved to pepper a series of kisses along Mark's jawline. Mark angled his head a little to the right, giving Donghyuck more access to his neck, for him to leave behind blooming bite marks. 

Mark's breath came out light and airy as his teeth grazed over his pulse point. "What's all this about?" 

"Nothing really," he mumbled against Mark's wet skin. "I felt kind of guilty for what I put you through earlier." 

Mark laughed and that was all it took for the fire to explode within his body. Mark's beautiful brown eyes were glazed over as he looked at him, a laugh still shaking through his body. Donghyuck could feel the bliss that was radiating off of Mark's body, vibrating into his own. 

"So you're going to blow me on the floor of my shower because you felt guilty?" Mark raised his eyebrows at him, eyes dancing with mirth. 

Donghyuck shrugged as he sucked at the skin at the base of Mark's neck. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, I'm certainly not complaining." Mark told him, relaxing completely underneath his fingers, head resting against the wall. Eyes falling shut, he said, "Take me to cloud nine then, baby." 

If that was something that Mark wanted, then Donghyuck was going to give it to him. Mark deserved it after the hell that he had been through.

The air around them shifting into something hotter, their desire heedy in the air, drowning with their hunger for each other. He felt the heat roiling, curling in his stomach, and that was all it took for him to go for it. Donghyuck immediately smashed their lips together, kissing Mark like his life depended on it. He kissed Mark until he melted within his arms, their chests nearly touching, skin hot against each other. 

The water from the shower was running into his eyes and into their mouths, making it a little harder to kiss properly, but he didn't care. Donghyuck continued to kiss and touch Mark in ways that he knew that Mark liked it. 

He reached down in between their wet bodies and wrapped his hands around Mark's dick, pumping it. It was hot, heavy, and throbbing in his hand. Donghyuck worked his fingers down on them, moving his wrist and twisting it as he did so. Mark buckled his hips upwards, into his hand, his back arching forward for their chest to touch. Mark's chest was searingly hot against his own. 

Mark's eyes were open again, but barely, half-lidded and heavy. Mark's fingers continued to trace mindless patterns onto his skin, his touch light and gentle, a stark contrast to the way that Donghyuck was moving his hands against Mark's length. The way that Mark was touching him nearly threw him off his game, his mind distracting him from the mission he was on. It was soft and tender, making his heart skip within his chest. 

Donghyuck pressed himself closer, pushing his knee in between Mark's legs until it touched his thigh. Mark's breaths were coming out in uneven pants, caressing his cheeks as he jerked him off. From where his other hand was placed, Donghyuck could feel Mark's racing heartbeat. He smiled when he felt this. 

When he moved his hand down to the base of Mark's dick, wrist still moving in circular motions as he went, Mark sighed in his ears. And when he brushed his thumb across the slit, Mark became a complete mess, hips jutting forward. Mark was panting hard, and Donghyuck was struggling to keep his breathing at a normal rate too.

He repeated the motion again and again. Donghyuck made a long pull down Mark's dick, before he twisted his hands at the end of the moment. He moved his thumb back up to the slit where precum was already leaking from it. He spread and rubbed down Mark's length, giving him the slide that he needed. 

His hand started to move faster, pumping up and down Mark's length, tightening his grasp the faster he moved. Mark's breathing changed, turning shallow and moans slipping in between them. 

"You're amazing, do you know that?" Mark uttered, voice low and hot, completely wrecked. Mark's eyes were locked with his as he spoke, "Like  _ fucking _ amazing." 

"Yeah, I know. I'm pretty amazing." Donghyuck laughed, leaning down to kiss the corner of Mark's mouth. 

"No. You're pretty fucking amazing." 

"Only for you." 

Donghyuck began to add more pressure. The once hot water spraying on his back was now cold and his hand was starting to ache, but his mind barely registered either of those things. He kept pumping his hand up and down. Mark's dick was slick with precum, making his hand slip down on it with ease. 

He stared at Mark's flushed face. Cheeks a pretty red and lips swollen from the kissing he had done earlier. A low moan escaped Mark's lips, hips buckling into hands, chasing for the release that he was getting closer and closer to. Mark continued to fuck into his, hard, the faster he moved. Mark was starting to lose control, evident from the sounds that filled the air. 

"Donghyuck," Mark breathed out. 

The sound of his name falling from Mark's lips sent all the blood in his body straight to his dick, making it twitch. He was so focused on tipping Mark over the edge that he forgot about his own throbbing issue between his legs. He was ridiculously hard, painfully so, for going this long without being touched. 

Mark was way too blissed out of his own mind to help him, so Donghyuck took it upon himself to find his own release as he helped Mark chase his. 

He rolled his hips down against Mark's thigh. At first he tried to keep his movements in circles, how he normally liked it, but that took too much work, especially when his hand was still fully occupied. So, Donghyuck simply chased whatever friction he could, because some was better than none. He grinded up, rubbed in, and rutted how ever he could against Mark's thigh, chasing the friction that he desperately needed. 

Mark was close, Donghyuck knew. He held onto Mark's length firmer, tighter. The sound of his hand slipping up and down was loud, cutting through the sound of the running shower, and echoing in the bathroom. It sounded so good that Donghyuck couldn't help but moan. 

"C'mere, baby." Mark whispered, words nearly lost to all the other sounds that they were making. 

Donghyuck didn’t have a clue on what Mark's talking about until he felt a warm hand clench around his dick.  _ "Oh." _ He had to bite down on his lips hard to stop the whine that was threatening to leave. 

His hand stuttered around Mark's dick, nearly stopping, as Mark started to move his hand. 

"Come with me. I want you to come with me, baby." Mark said, encouragingly and breathless. 

It only took the both of them a couple more pumps, before they came into each other's hands, hips stuttering as hot, thick liquid spilled between them, their names bouncing off the walls. Donghyuck wanted to close his eyes so badly, but he forced them open, for he wanted to see what Mark looked like when he came. He wanted to see every little detail on Mark's face as ecstasy overcame him. 

He kept pumping his fist, as did Mark, jerking them through their orgasms. 

Unlike himself, Mark had his eyes closed. His face was relaxed, cheeks still a bright cherry red. It was beautiful. Mark was beautiful. Donghyuck couldn't stop staring. 

Donghyuck rested his forehead against Mark's. He looked deep into Mark's eyes once more, full of cinnamon and brown sugar, and thought to himself that he would savor this moment right here, a brief pause in their shared passion, to capture the feeling of who his heart was beating so fiercely for. 

"Sorry that I didn’t blow you like I had intended to," he broke the silence first, head still light. 

"It's okay." Mark laughed, his fingers slipping underneath his chin, tilting his head upwards so that Mark could kiss his lips. "You can do it next time."

.

The next time that Donghyuck saw Mark again, he stumbled across him sitting in the corner of the first floor of the library. Smile instantly tugging at the corner of his lips, Donghyuck changed his course of direction and began to head over to where Mark was.

It had been a while since Donghyuck saw Mark. A week or two, perhaps? He wasn't too sure to be very honest. All the days of the week were beginning to blur together at this point in the semester.

Mark was deep into whatever he was doing because he didn't even notice when Donghyuck slid into the empty chair across from him. His eyes were glued to the screen and his fingers were flying across the keyboard of his laptop.

Reaching over, Donghyuck yanked out one of his earbuds, "Hey."

Mark opened his mouth, completely ready to rip his head off for interrupting him like that, but the second their eyes connected, Mark clamped his mouth shut.

"Let's go do something fucking crazy." Donghyuck suggested as leaned across the table to take a deeper look into Mark's eyes— to drown in them.

Mark shut his laptop close as he leaned in to close the distance between them, until their warm breaths were caressing each other's lips, making Donghyuck shiver. "Sure, what do you want to do?" His brown eyes burned like rich whiskey; just one look and Donghyuck was already drunk.

"How do you feel about tattoos?" Donghyuck asked breathily, his heart starting to race in his chest the longer he stared. "Have you ever gotten one before?"

"Tattoos?" Mark repeated. Appearing to think about it for a second, he said, "I don't have any feelings for them. I haven't gotten one before either."

His cheeks were flushed. Donghyuck wasn't too sure if it was from how hard he was smiling or if it was the way that Mark was staring back at him. He didn't care to figure it out though, he liked the way Mark made him feel whenever he was around.

"Then I dare you to go and get matching tattoos with me, right now."

Mark smiled at him, eyes turning a deep amber, like a bottle of Jack Daniels as he said, "Sure."

Donghyuck liked this part of Mark too. Mark, who went along with all his crazy, spontaneous ideas without a question. Mark, who made his heart skip a beat with that stupidly, dashing smile of his.

.

It was the most unoriginal idea ever, but it looked hot as hell tatted on Mark's left bicep. The black ink was a stark contrast to his pale skin, now slightly red around the fresh tattoo, but it looked fucking sexy; his birthday in roman numerals, a piece of him, permanently inked into Mark's skin forever.

Mark hopped off the table with ease and motioned for Donghyuck to get on it in his place. "Your turn, baby."

Donghyuck replaced Mark’s spot with ease, the sleeve to his shirt rolled all the way up to the top of his shoulder. 

Donghyuck replaced Mark’s spot with ease, the sleeve to his shirt rolled all the way up to the top of his shoulder. "Let's do this." 

He half-expected Mark to take the seat beside him like how he had done so earlier when Mark was getting tattooed, so he was shocked when Mark sat down right in front of him, in the tattoo artist chair. Ten, who had given Mark his tattoo ripped his latex gloves off and tossed them into the trash. Before he left the room, Ten hollered out, "Call me if you need anything!"

"Wait," he stuttered, mind scrambling to make sense of it all, "where is Ten going? Isn't he supposed to give me my tattoo too?"

"Nah, I'm giving it to you." 

_ "What?"  _ There was no way Donghyuck heard that correctly. 

"I said, I'll be the one giving you the tattoo." Mark told him again, shaking his head with a tiny smile on his lips. He tugged on a pair of black latex gloves, identical to the ones that Ten was wearing earlier. "Come on, relax. I know it's your first tattoo, but it'll be fine." 

"You're seriously telling me to relax right now?" He shrieked as Mark swiped a pad of cold alcohol across the skin that he was going to get tatted. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure your skin is clean before I tat you up, obviously. You don't want to get an infection from a bad tattoo, do you?"

"I think I'll get an infection regardless if you're the one that's giving me a tattoo." Shying away from the tattoo needle that Mark suddenly had in his hand, Donghyuck added, "Do you even know how to use that thing?"

Mark laughed at his words, heartily, like it was the funniest thing in the entire world — which it wasn't. Eyes sparkling in a way that made the fire in his stomach burn, Mark said, "I might be new to getting a tattoo but it doesn't mean that I'm new to tattoos in general." Scooting the chair closer to him, Mark smiled at him, "I've been working here for the past three years. I've tattooed more people than you can imagine." 

"I don't trust a single word you're saying." Donghyuck glared at him, his throat running dry the closer Mark got. He clenched his thighs tight together, trying his hardest to stop the fire from pooling into his veins. "I'm calling bullshit." 

"Fine. Since you don't believe me, how about this? Let's make another dare and make this whole experience a little more fun." Mark began to say and Donghyuck felt his breath hitch at the suggestion. "I dare you to let me give you this tattoo." 

Donghyuck bit down on his lips, heart beating so incredibly fast in his chest. He watched at the way Mark's smile blossomed, until it stretched out completely across his lips, looking every bit of a devil he truly was. If people thought that Donghyuck was the spawn of Satan, then they surely haven't met the Mark that he was seeing right now. Mark, an angel? Absolutely not. He was a demon, born from the deepest, darkest part of hell, Donghyuck was sure of it. 

Mark knew that there was no way he was going to back down from it if it was a dare. Donghyuck never admitted defeat to a single dare thrown his way ever since he was five and he definitely wasn't going to admit defeat now, to Mark, of all people.

It had been an ongoing thing that they secretly agreed on from the moment they met each other. They’ve thrown all sorts of dares and bets at each other, whenever and whatever they could. It was fun, because neither of them seemed to want to back down from it. The intense desire to out win one another was too great. Whoever denied a dare or bet, lost immediately. 

Donghyuck glared at him, hard. “If I have to go to the hospital because you did a shitty job at tatting me up, I’m making you cover all the medical expenses.” 

“Alright.” Mark laughed, nodding his head. “I promise that I’ll take care of your medical bills if this lands you in the hospital.” 

The tattoo gun was buzzing before Donghyuck could even say anything else to stop Mark from going forth with his original plan. Mark leaned in close, hovering over him as he positioned the tattoo gun right over the skin of his bicep, prepared to give Donghyuck his tattoo in the same location that Mark had gotten his. The only difference this time around would be that Mark’s birthday would be inked into his skin. 

His heart was beating ridiculously hard, embarrassingly so. Donghyuck was sure that Mark would feel it underneath his fingertips, from where his fingers were placed directly over his brachial artery. 

Right before the needle touched his skin, Mark spared him a glance, eyes trained on his face, making his cheeks a lot hotter than they already were. Then his eyes flickered down to the way he continued to clench his thighs tightly together, trying to hide his apparent growing arousal. “Do you need a kiss to relax?” Mark teased. 

Donghyuck groaned. Squeezing his eyes shut so that he wouldn’t have to see the smug smile that Mark was surely sporting at the moment, he said, “Just fucking kiss me already and let’s get this over with.” 

Mark’s lips were over his in an instant, moving hot and fast. The touch of their lips added more fuel to the fire kindling underneath this skin. His body was so hot. But he barely even had the chance to return the favor before Mark moved back, breaking the kiss. He whined at the loss, lifting his head to chase for more, but Mark pushed him back down with a tsk of his tongue, laughing. “Nope. No more. I’ll give you some after I finish inking you.” 

Donghyuck pouted. Laying back down on the chair, he said, “You better.” 

“I will. Plus  _ more.”  _

Donghyuck hated the way his heart jumped out of his chest. 

. 

It was Friday night and Donghyuck found himself in the center of some random party that his friends dragged him along too. 

He was in the kitchen, sitting in Mark's lap at the counter, with Mark's hand warm against his hip. There was an array of shot glasses in front of him. Some filled to the brim with liquor, but a few were filled with some very questionable things.

Lifting one of the shot glasses, he wiggled the drink in his hand a couple of times and was mortified to find that the white, creamy contents inside the glass  _ jiggle. _ "What the fuck is this?"

"That, my dear Hyuckie, is mayonnaise." Taeil laughed at him. "There's also soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, and hot sauce somewhere in the circle too. Just try not to land on those." 

Placing the offensive glass back down, he pulled a face at the circle of "drinks" that was in front of him. "You guys are evil." 

Beside him, Renjun scoffed. "Yeah, nice hearing that from the devil himself." Then smiling smugly, he added, "Don't tell me that you're scared. Too chicken to play?" 

"What?" Donghyuck exclaimed, eyes wide. "Never. I can take on any dare or bet you throw at me." Crossing his arms, he leaned back into Mark's chest, feeling the hand on his hip tighten at his sudden movement. "Isn't that right, babe?" 

Renjun raised a questioning eyebrow at the sudden pet name that slipped from his lips, but he ignored it in favor of turning to face Mark, waiting to hear what he would have to say. 

Mark was in the middle of talking to some football player on his team when Donghyuck called out to him. Breaking away from the conversation he was having with his teammate, he looked at Donghyuck, confused. "Yes? What did I miss?"

"Tell them that I never back down from a challenge." 

At the word "challenge," Mark broke out into a wide grin. "Oh, yeah, Hyuck doesn't back down from anything." Eyes trained on his face, Mark winked at him. "Trust me, I would know." 

Mark was amazing. He followed along on whatever it was that Donghyuck would rope him into and always took his side, no matter what. He was seriously  _ perfect.  _

Satisfied with his answer, Donghyuck whipped around to stick his tongue out at Renjun childishly. "See, I told you so."

"Whatever, let's get this game going," Renjun commented as he started to call for some of their friends into the circle. 

Once more people started to gather, crowding around the kitchen island, Taeil clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "First round of the night! Rules are simple. It's practically spin the bottle but with drinks." He spun the empty Heineken bottle in the center of all the drinks for show. "Whatever it lands on, you gotta drink it. If you're lucky it'll be a tequila shot if not, it might be vinegar, who knows." 

"That sounds disgusting. Fun, but disgusting." Jaemin stated from the other side of the counter, tucked underneath Jeno's arm. "If I get something nasty, you're drinking it, Jeno." 

"It's not that bad! Something chill to ease everyone into a full night of drinking." Taeil exclaimed. Then pulling a pair of sunglasses practically out from thin air, he said, "We'll decide who goes first with rock paper scissors." 

Always the worst at the game, Jisung ended up losing and went first. Eyes wide and becoming a mumbling mess, he asked, "Are there any chasers for this?" 

"Chasers?" Taeil stopped his dancing for a moment, then thinking about it, he spun around and grabbed a random bottle of vodka. "Cheap vodka will be the chaser for tonight."

"No cola?" Jisung groaned, nose wrinkling at the sight of the cheap and practically brandless vodka in front of him. 

Taeil laughed loudly. Reaching over to pull Jisung into a hug, he said, "Oh, you baby. It's bring your own booze for the most part. So if you didn't bring any cola, then there's no cola for you." 

"Ugh, let's just get this over with." 

Donghyuck couldn't help but laugh with everyone else as the baby of their whole group moved forward to spin the bottle quickly, before hiding behind Chenle's body as they all waited for the bottle to stop. When it did though, Jisung was lucky that he did end up with a shot glass filled with cola instead.

The game continued after that, the number of drinks in the circle slowly disappearing until there were only three left by the time it got to his turn. Most of the questionable shots were already taken out, thank god, because if he had to drink that mayo shot, Donghyuck would have thrown up. Lucas had been the miserable one to have landed on that glass. He all but gulped down in one go though, kudos to him.

The bottle slowed down before it stopped altogether, pointing towards a shot filled with something thick and red. 

Donghyuck eyed the drink questioningly before he picked up to smell it. The tomato scent was pungent, making his eyes burn. It was definitely ketchup. 

Now, Donghyuck didn't really have anything against ketchup. He would have just preferred it alongside his french fries and not in a shot glass, though. It wasn't impossible to take it all in one go, but Donghyuck would much rather not. 

Knowing that something like this would occur, he already had a contingency plan for it. Whirling around on Mark's lap, he thrust the ketchup shot right under Mark's nose. "I dare you to drink this." 

The second that it was placed under his nose, though, Mark leaned as far back as he could, a scowl on his face. Mark looked like he was two seconds away from vomiting. 

Johnny, from the other side of the kitchen counter, laughed heartily. "Dude, I don't know what crazy-ass things y'all have done, but I can tell you that Mark is definitely not taking that shot for you." 

"Yeah, you're on your own, Donghyuck." Chenle snickered. 

Everyone began to shout and holler the same thing, that there was no way Mark was going to take the shot for him. To be honest, Donghyuck was a little confused. What was so bad about it that Mark wouldn't take it? Mark, who had done just about everything Donghyuck dared him to do. There was no way, a ketchup shot was his limit. They had matching permanent tattoos for crying out loud. A ketchup shot can not be the deal-breaker. 

Ignoring the commotion that was stirring up around them, Donghyuck reached out for the bottle of vodka on the counter. "Chase it was this. It'll be like a Blood Mary, a terrible one, but still a Bloody Mary."

The more he talked about it, the more repulsive Mark grew. Suddenly, Donghyuck felt like maybe this could be Mark's limit for some odd reason. With this in mind, he started to pull the shot glass back away from Mark, prepared to take it instead. Donghyuck wouldn't die if he took it, but Mark looked like he would. As much as it was fun to do all these silly dares and bets with Mark, Donghyuck didn't want to force him into anything that could kill him. 

Donghyuck had grown a little too fond of him for that to happen. 

"I guess—," Donghyuck was about to drink the ketchup shot when Mark plunked it out of his hands and drowned it. 

It grew utterly silent; everyone in the room stopped talking. It was when Mark slammed the glass back down onto the granite counter and made a rush for the vodka that all hell broke loose. 

Donghyuck watched with wide eyes as Mark practically chugged half the bottle as everyone screamed and hollered around them. 

"Dude, that did not just happen! I didn't even have my phone out to record it!"

"What the fuck?" 

"Mark really drank it? Oh my fucking god, the world is ending. We're all going to die."

"What? Why?" Donghyuck immediately shouted. 

Everyone kept on talking over each other and it was putting him on edge. He needed someone to tell him what was going on with Mark and ketchup. It appeared that he was the only one that didn't know anything about it and he really didn't like to be kept in the dark. 

"Mark hates ketchup," Johnny told him. Shaking his head in laughter, he said, "He loathes that shit with a burning passion." 

"Yeah, Mark goes even as far as putting down that he's allergic to that stuff to avoid it," Jaemin added. "I'm pretty sure you know that Mark is like lowkey lactose intolerant, right?"

No, Donghyuck did not know that.

Head whipping around to look at Mark, who was still grimacing at the aftertaste of what he just drank. He didn't meet Donghyuck's eyes at all and simply stared at the empty shot glass with intense distaste. 

"He would willingly eat a shit ton of dairy but ketchup, something that he can clearly eat without his stomach killing itself, he won't. He avoids it like the plague. I've never seen someone hate ketchup so much before in my life." 

Donghyuck was completely speechless. He didn't know what to say. There was a warm, fuzzing feeling stirring in his chest as he continued to stare at Mark's face. Mark continued to avoid his eyes at all cost, choosing to look anywhere else but at him. The hand that Mark had on his hip was still there though, his touch warm and seeping through the material of the shirt he was wearing. 

The game continued after that, everyone got over their initial shock and moved on. But Donghyuck couldn't. 

With the newfound information, Donghyuck felt terrible. 

"I didn't know that you hated ketchup..." he began, "I didn't know that you can't eat dairy either. Now I feel bad for all the ice cream I dared you to eat with me..."

"Never came up," Mark shrugged. He pinched the skin above his hip gently, slowly smiling, "Sure, I'm lactose intolerant but that won’t stop me from eating stuff with dairy in it." 

"You're impossible." Donghyuck rolled his eyes. Leaning into Mark's touch, Donghyuck brushed his lips right past his ears, words hot, saying, "Come on, the bedroom upstairs is free. Let's go." 

. 

They barely even made it past the staircases, hands slipping underneath each other's clothes, when they got called back. 

"Mark, Donghyuck!" Yuta hollered for them. "Stop making out. You’re up for the next beer pong round!" 

He knocked his head back against the wall, groaning. "For fuck’s sake, can't someone else play instead? I'm trying to get dicked up right now!" Squeezing his eyes shut, he cursed his luck.

Mark withdrew his hands from under his shirt and chuckled. Pressing one last searing kiss to his lips, Mark said, "Come on. The faster we get it over, the faster we can go back to what we were doing." 

"I don't want to," he sighed, making grabby hands, trying to coax Mark back into his arms. Tugging on Mark's shirt, he pouted. "Just ignore them. If we don't go back over there, then they can't do anything."

"Let's go, Hyuck. It'll be a quick game, I promise." Mark tried to persuade him. Eyes lighting up, he took hold of his hands. "I'm great at beer pong." 

Donghyuck sighed, super annoyed. "I swear, if the game isn't over in like ten minutes, you're not getting any sex for the next week." 

Head thrown back, laughing extra hard, Mark said, "That's cool by me, but I don't think you'll be able to last that long." 

"Is that a bet?" Donghyuck countered, heart somersaulting. He was always down for a challenge, big or small.

"Sure," Mark replied. "Let's make a couple of bets while we're at it. One, I'll finish the game within ten minutes, not a minute more. Two, after tonight, let's see if you can go one week without sex."

"Why after tonight?" Donghyuck questioned.

"You wanted to get back to what we were doing before, didn't you?" 

Oh, yeah, Donghyuck definitely wanted to go back to what they were doing, no question about it. His skin was still warm from where Mark ran his fingertips over and his lips were a little numb. 

"Okay, it's a bet then." 

"Cool." Mark smiled.

Except it really wasn't.

When they entered the living room to where the beer pong table was already set up, Donghyuck froze up at the sight of who their opponents were — Jaehyun and his new boyfriend, Doyoung.

His friends eyed him warily from the sidelines. They knew that it was still a touchy topic for him, even though it had been a while since the breakup. Donghyuck honestly didn't know why he was still so affected by his past relationship with Jaehyun. Sure, they had been together for nearly a year, but Donghyuck shouldn't have gotten so attached. When he dived into the relationship with Jaehyun, they made it crystal clear that they were just going to fool around, and that was it. They would put on all the labels as boyfriends, but it wasn't meant to last long. It was simply something to release all of their pent up sexual tension. The whole boyfriend ordeal was just a bonus.

But somewhere, along the way, Donghyuck got his feelings mixed in with all the pleasure, which wasn't hard. Jaehyun was nearly perfect — nearly, because he was still a cheating asshole at the end of the day. Jaehyun had treated him well. He took him out on nice dates and took care of him. Jaehyun did everything that a good boyfriend was supposed to do. 

"Don't worry, baby. Ten minutes I promise." Mark whispered in his ears as he slung a comforting arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. 

Looking up at him, he mumbled, "Jaehyun's the stronger drinker around here." 

"And?" Mark questioned, taking a sip of his beer. Donghyuck hadn’t even noticed that Mark picked up one coming into the room. Winking at him, Mark said, "Come on, let's kick your ex's ass." 

Arm still around his shoulder, Mark went up to the table, ready to play. As they stood there, Donghyuck yet tucked under his am, Johnny suddenly shouted from the sideline, "Is that a fucking tattoo?" 

Donghyuck stopped breathing. 

"Bro, that is definitely a tattoo." Eyes wide, Johnny pointed at his left arm. "Donghyuck, you have one too? Matching tattoos?" 

The room became so quiet as everyone stared at their left arms. Taking a glance down to where everyone was looking, Donghyuck saw that both his and Mark's shirts had ridden up to expose the matching tattoos that they got together a couple of weeks ago. 

His heart was pounding as he watched the way Mark thumbed at his tattoo, caressing it lightly. "Yeah, we got matching tattoos." 

"Damn, y'all serious then." Johnny whistled. "You wouldn't catch me getting a matching tattoo with anyone, not even Taeyong, and I've been with him for nearly a decade now." 

Mark laughed, still thumbing at his tattoo. "I guess you could say that."

That would be the first time that either one of them talked about exactly  _ what  _ they were. They had been treading between the fine line of just friends with benefits and possibly something a little more. Between all the hot make-out sessions and equally hot sex, Donghyuck would have liked to believe that they came to a mutual understanding that this was merely them fooling around, no feelings attached. They just had sex with one another  _ exclusively. _

It was easier that way, he thought. There was no need to go searching around for some good dick when Mark Lee was literally right there and willing to give it to him, zero questions asked. 

Sure, he hung out a couple times at Mark's place, but every single one of them would lead to them having sex at some point in time during his stay. The same went for when Mark came by to his shared apartment with Renjun. Yeah, they went on a couple dates, mostly study dates, but that was about it. Donghyuck tried not to read into all of it too much. He didn't want to spiral down into the same hole that he had done with Jaehyun. 

He tried his hardest to keep his feelings and pleasure separate, but truthfully, it was kind of hard when Mark was acting the way that he was. It was extremely difficult. 

Mark, who was sweet in every way possible. Donghyuck was surprised that he hadn't gotten a cavity from all the kind gestures that Mark did. 

Sex with Mark was great — mindblowing, a hundred times better than when he did it with Jaehyun by a landslide. But post-sex with Mark though? Now, that was the shit. Donghyuck didn't even know that it was possible to feel that blissfully warm afterward. Mark took care of him so well, tending to his every need, even things that never crossed his mind before. Mark made him feel special. It was nice, so Donghyuck followed along with it, even though his mind kept on telling him to stop before it was too late. He ignored it, however. He ignored all of the red flags and the way his heart continued to skip a beat each time Mark would look his way, the same exact way he was looking at him right now. 

"Yeah, something like that," he whispered, his words quiet. 

Donghyuck wasn't sure if anyone heard him, but Mark did, because he pressed a kiss to his temple. It was soft and it made his heart flutter so dangerously. 

He allowed his eyes to stay on Mark's face for a second longer, before he tore his eyes away. Instead, he dared himself to look over to where Jaehyun was standing at the other end of the ping pong table with Doyoung at his side.

Maybe it was the warmth of Mark's body pressed to him, but when Donghyuck looked at Jaehyun in the eyes, he didn't feel anything. No anger, no regrets. He didn't even feel sad. 

Smile tugging at his lips, he reached for one of the ping pong balls that Mark was holding, saying, "Let's kick their asses, babe." 

Mark took his aim and threw the first shot of the game, the ping pong ball going into one of the red solo cups cleanly. All of their friends were hooting and hollering when it went in. 

"Trust me, baby, I already am." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe, hydrated, and happy everyone! 
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/markeuhyuckie/status/1239041276454076417?s=20) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/markeuhyuckie)


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A single truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been way over a month long since the last chapter. I know, I'm so sorry, but I've been swamped with exams left and right. Not to mention juggling that with work gave me little to no to time to write anything. It also didn't help that I went through a writing slump too, but I still managed to make this chapter ridiculously massive, like 17K massive lol so I hope that it was worth the wait. 
> 
> I had a hard time with this chapter, but today when I went back through to "semi-edit" it, I'm honestly quite happy and pleased with how it turned out. I think this fic just became my most favorite fic that I've written. 
> 
> Anyways, enough of the rambling from me~ Enjoy!
> 
> Unbetaed and barely edited because I just wanted to free this fic from my gdocs.

His head was positively pounding, and the intense crunching that kept on coming through from the other line was not helping, at all. 

Donghyuck was hungover, tired, and a little grumpy. He really shouldn’t have drank as much as he did at the party last night, but it was too late to have regrets about it. He honestly didn’t though, because the level of happiness he felt when Jaehyun gaped at Mark for kicking his ass in beer pong, in ten minutes flat, like Mark had promised, was unmeasurable.  __

“What the hell are you eating?” Donghyuck finally asked, because he could not take the high noise level anymore. Every crunch was sending a wave of pain pulsing through his head. “It sounds like you’re crunching on rocks.” 

“Cereal,” Mark replied back, his words slightly muffled. The crunching practically stopped by then, as if Mark was trying to chew as quietly as he could. “But without any milk.” 

_ “What?” _ Donghyuck stopped in his tracks, eyes bulging. 

Mark had to be fucking kidding, Donghyuck thought. The longer that he thought about it though, the more convinced he became that it would actually be something that Mark would do. For the amount of times that he spent with Mark, Donghyuck discovered that Mark had a strange addiction to cereal. The said boy could eat it anytime of the day, three times a day even. Mark loved his cereal.

“I said cereal, but without any milk. So, just plain cornflakes.”

“And this is your first meal of the day?” Donghyuck exclaimed, growing absolutely mortified with each passing second. “It’s like two in the afternoon.” 

“Yeah, pretty much. I just woke up. I had to stay up late last night to finish a paper.” He could hear the way Mark was shrugging his shoulders as he spoke, trying to brush it off as not that big of deal. 

Well, that sucked, because Donghyuck had the tendency to make everything a big deal. He liked to be dramatic like that, all the damn time. So, that was exactly what he did. 

Feeling determined and his heart growing a little soft, he said, “Okay, no. I’m going over right there and I’m going to give you a proper meal.” 

.

There was a spoon hanging from Mark’s mouth when he opened the door, his eyes big and wide — incredibly cute if Donghyuck could say so himself. 

But that was besides the point. 

Eyes narrowing in on the silver spoon with disgust, Donghyuck immediately yanked it out from Mark’s mouth. Tsking his tongue, he pointed at Mark with it, saying, “You need to stop eating cereal all the damn time. There are other foods that exist in the world aside from cereal, you know?” 

Closing the door behind him, Mark hummed. “Yeah, I know. But it’s like the only thing that doesn’t require me to turn on the stove, because trust me, you do not want me anywhere near a stove if you value your own life.”

“Bad cook?” Donghyuck laughed. 

Mark's eyes twinkled as he replied with a smile, “The  _ worst. _ ” 

“Well, good thing, you have me around, right?” Donghyuck joked as he opened the fridge, searching through its content for something to cook. 

He was reaching for the huge container of kimchi in the back, when he heard Mark say softly, almost too tenderly, “Yeah, good thing.” 

Donghyuck hated the way his heart did a somersault in his chest. It was something that was happening a lot these days, more than not, he noticed.

Ignoring the feeling as best as he could, Donghyuck continued to dig around through the fridge, searching for anything else that he could use to make into a decent meal, because God knew Mark could use it. The boy probably hadn’t had a proper meal, something aside from cereal, since the last time they had take out for dinner. 

Hands resting on his hips, Donghyuck stared at the pile of ingredients piled high on the counter before him. Biting down on his lips, he asked, “So, how does kimchi jjigae sound?”

“Dude,  _ kimchi jjigae _ ?” Mark repeated, eyes all big and sparkly. Donghyuck could just lean over and kiss him absolutely senseless, but he forced his body to stay put. “I haven’t had that since I’ve moved out!”

Smiling, Donghyuck started to search the cupboards for a pot. “I’m assuming that’s a yes then?”

“It’s a fucking hell yes.” Mark laughed, voice warm and excited. “I  _ love  _ kimchi jjigae.” 

“Then kimchi jjigae it is.” 

Once he successfully found a pot big enough for the stew he was going to make, Donghyuck went over to the rice cooker. He had an inkling that it was going to be empty, so he wasn’t too surprised when it actually was. 

Thrusting the empty pot into Mark’s hands, he shoved the boy towards the sink. “Since you can’t cook, I’m not going to ask you to help for the sake of this apartment. But, you’re definitely not going to be standing around doing nothing while I cook. Go measure out the rice and wash it, I think you can handle that much right?” 

“Yes,  _ babe _ , I can handle the duty of cooking rice.” Mark rolled his eyes, a playful smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. 

Donghyuck simply smiled in return, his heart doing that stupid thing inside his chest again at the sound of the pet name falling from Mark’s lips. Instead of dwelling on it too much, Donghyuck began to arrange everything out accordingly. 

He barely got the kimchi container opened, when he felt a fleeting kiss on the side of his temple, “You’re fucking amazing, by the way. If you didn’t know that.” 

Donghyuck wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball right there, on the kitchen floor, and scream. His heart was in his throat and he knew for a fact that his cheeks were bright red, there was no doubt about it. Resisting the urge to sock Mark in the ribs like he really wanted to do, he replied back as nonchalantly as possible, “I think what you meant to say is that I’m  _ pretty  _ fucking amazing.” 

He knew he shouldn’t have done it, but Donghyuck did it anyway. He looked up at Mark after he said those words, eyes looking into Mark’s warm ones. The air in his lungs was ripped from him as he caught the way Mark was staring right back at him, a soft, lazy smile growing on his lips. Mark was looking at him like he was the only person in the world — in the entire universe, even, like he was something precious, and that was enough to set his whole body on fire. 

Feeling shy, Donghyuck broke eye contact first, diving back into the task he was doing. He could hear Mark chuckling afterwards and he had to will his heart to stop beating so fast at the lovely sound. 

“Yeah, you’re right, like usual.” Mark replied, a tiny chuckle sneaking into his words. “You are pretty fucking amazing, Donghyuck, more than you even know.” 

.

Donghyuck waited in anticipation as Mark took his first bite, clutching onto his spoon nervously. He watched as Mark finished his short prayer, withdrawing his clasped hands from under his nose and eyes opening again. 

“This smells so good, oh my god.” Mark was literally vibrating with how excited he was, and that alone made Donghyuck feel a little better. “I don’t even have to taste it to know that it’s going to be amazing.” 

Scoffing, Donghyuck pushed the bowl of stew closer to Mark, urging him to get on and taste it already. “I think you’re just saying that just to say it now, Mark. Eat the damn thing while it’s still hot, won’t you?” 

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Mark smiled at him before diving in, although being extra careful to blow on it. 

Mark moaned so loud that Donghyuck could feel it in his bones, making him blush hard. The only times that he heard Mark sound like that was when they had sex. Just thinking about it made his head spin. Cheeks burning, he tried coughing away his embarrassment. 

“I think I’m in love.” Mark stated, eyes closed and face completely blissed out. 

His cough turned into a real one, and next thing Donghyuck knew, he was choking on air. Wheezing, he immediately reached out for the water in front of him. Sipping on it eagerly, Donghyuck looked everywhere else but at Mark as he tried to calm himself down. 

“Well, that’s kind of putting it a little over the top,” Donghyuck mumbled from over the top of his drink. 

“Actually, that’s putting it as an understatement, because this is just —  _ wow. _ ” Mark continued to gush. Taking in another spoonful of food, he asked, “So what do I need to do to get fed like this again? And maybe like forever? Because I really don’t think that I can go back to eating cereal every day when I got a taste of this.”

His heart was beating furiously in his chest. A couple more beats and his heart was honestly ready to burst. Donghyuck swore he forgot how to breathe too.

His spoon was hanging in mid-air as he stared at Mark, who was digging into the feast that he had prepared with enthusiasm. Mark was scooping in spoonfuls after spoonfuls of food, smiling happily after every bite. He was too invested in the food in front of him to notice that Donghyuck hadn't replied back to him yet.

_Forever?_ Donghyuck thought, his mind turning into a complete mess. 

He was never one to think about  _ forever _ . Donghyuck was more of someone that lived in the moment, to cherish what was happening right then and there; to be present. He never dwelled too much on the past or the future, because there was no reason to stress over something that already happened or to fear about something that could potentially happen. It was simply a waste to live his life like that. Donghyuck didn't see the point in overthinking things too much either, the unnecessary stress of it all. He would figure things out as they come. He liked to take things step by step. There wasn’t any need to sprint when he could take a stroll. 

That was probably the main reason why none of his previous relationships ever worked out too. In all of them, he simply lived in the present and the present only. He didn't talk about the future with any of his exs. It was kind of taboo to talk about the future with the way he liked his relationships to be; no strings attached and purely pleasure, no commitment. When the talks about the future came up, it meant that his feelings had caught up into the mix and he was in way too deep. 

The idea of settling down with someone? It terrified Donghyuck. To be with someone for the rest of his life? He couldn’t see himself in a position like that. Because what would happen when they don’t work out, what then? To spend so much time and effort into a relationship with someone, but only for it to go to waste in the end. Truthfully, Donghyuck didn’t think that he had it in him to bear the heartbreak either. 

Donghyuck knew that he had a tendency to love a little too easy and a little too much. When he fell, Donghyuck fell hard, until he was left beaten and bruised.

He hadn’t found someone worth the pain to fall for yet either. There wasn’t anyone in his life that he could picture himself spending the rest of his life with, someone to take on the future, with them by his side.

The longer he stared at Mark though, happily dipping his spoon into the kimchi jjigae stew, Donghyuck hated the way that he  _ could  _ see it. 

He could see a  _ forever  _ with Mark. 

Donghyuck could see this very exact scene, Mark eating away at the meal he would prepare for them, in their own kitchen, maybe even surrounded by a couple dogs that they would adopt together, a couple years down the road. Possibly a decade too, waking up to Mark’s messy hair and lazy smiles, morning cuddles in bed, neither one of them wanting to leave each other’s warmth. 

His heart lurched into his throat as he entertained the idea of him and Mark, still together, permanently, in the future. 

.

He was full, warm, and sleepy. 

Donghyuck knew that he shouldn’t, but the longer that Mark had his fingers in his hair, the more inviting it seemed to fall asleep. Not to mention the sound of Mark’s steady heartbeat under his ears made it just that much easier to close his eyes. 

After lunch, Mark decided to open his Netflix account and play some random tv series. They were three episodes deep, but Donghyuck didn’t have a single clue about what was going on. All that he could focus on was the flutter of his heart as Mark combed through his hair soothingly, coaxing him to sleep. 

All of his classes were done for the day, so there really wasn’t anything that was stopping him from falling asleep right in Mark’s arm and staying over for the rest of the day. The last time that he had stayed over was back when they first met. Since then, Donghyuck hardly stayed the night. 

Maybe, he would make an exception today. 

Feeling Mark run a hand down his back, his fingers still tangled up in his locks, Donghyuck snuggled deeper into Mark’s chest, taking in the lovely scent of his laundry detergent. 

Mark’s chest shook with a light chuckle. “Sleepy?” 

“Yeah, a little bit,” he mumbled, words muffled by the material of Mark’s shirt. “I’m entering the first stage of a food coma.” 

Mark pulled him up a little higher on his chest, until he could put his lips into his locks, kissing him on the top of his head. Arms wrapping a little more snug around his frame, Mark whispered, “Then sleep.” 

Donghyuck felt so, so _ warm _ . Although his eyes were threatening to close, he forced them open, to look up at Mark. The longer that he stared, the more his heart swelled until he was completely overwhelmed by the feeling. The way that Mark was looking at him added fuel to the fire that was burning inside of him. It warmed him all the way to the tip of his toes and it was a feeling that Donghyuck wanted to bottle up and keep with him at all times. 

Their lips were barely a breath’s length away, so all that it took for Donghyuck to kiss Mark was a tiny tilt of his head. Lips pressed softly together, he hummed out, “Maybe I will stay a night.” 

“You should,” Mark murmured back. “What’s stopping you?”

Nothing was stopping him from staying over, absolutely nothing, except for his wildly beating heart and the looming insecurity about taking it a step further. But Donghyuck brushed that nagging feeling away as Mark continued to kiss him, oh so tenderly, until he could taste the stars. Mark had the strange ability to do that to him sometimes, to give him a feeling that he had never experienced before in his life. 

It tasted like ambition, lots of it. Donghyuck wasn’t quite sure what the ambition was for, but it was always there in Mark’s kisses, mixed in with a little bit of fire; sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. But it was a fire that kept him warm for hours on end. It tasted like determination, almost as if Mark was trying to prove something to him with the way Mark would press his lips a little harder against his from time to time. It also tasted a little dark, the underlying taste of fear, of being left alone. 

Donghyuck had never noticed this before, but he could taste it for sure, there was no mistake about it. Tasting this, Donghyuck kissed him a bit deeper, wanting to erase that bitter taste from the kiss immediately. When Mark cupped his face, thumb caressing his cheeks, he sighed softly. With every kiss that he got, Donghyuck felt like he was floating as stardust began to seep into his veins.

As he leaned back, to take in a lungful of air, he caught sight of the shooting stars dancing within Mark’s eyes. Seeing them, Donghyuck promised that he would give Mark his heart, fully and completely, one day. Whether it be tomorrow, or the day after that, he wasn’t sure, but Donghyuck knew for certain that he would, eventually. 

.

Donghyuck could barely keep his eyes open. 

One quick glance at the digital clock on the corner of his laptop told him that it was nearly one in the morning. It truly wasn’t that late, but for some odd reason, his body was already giving up on him. Groaning, he looked at the mess of papers that he had around him, spread out to point that he couldn't even see the table he was sitting at anymore. 

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he turned his head to check out the line of the Starbucks that was still miraculously open at such a late hour. As he looked over at it though, Donghyuck saw that the line was ridiculously long; at least ten students were in line for their nightly caffeine boost. He did not have the time to wait in a line that long for a single cup of coffee. His report was nowhere near finished even after working on it for hours. He still needed to put all of his data into pretty looking graphs and write out the rest of his results section, all of which were easier said than done.

Looking at how much work he still needed to do, Donghyuck wanted to bang his head on the top, which was exactly what he did. 

His forehead barely grazed against the cold table a second time before it touched something warm and familiar. "Let's not kill off anymore of your brain cells, baby." 

Donghyuck felt his shoulders relax at the sound of Mark's voice, and his heart doing that stupid flutter that it kept on doing whenever Mark was around. He knew that he should really get back to work, but he thought to hell with it. He had been working his ass off on his project for the last couple of hours, he deserved at least a little ten minute break. 

When he didn't move his head from where it was resting against Mark's hand, Donghyuck listened as Mark let out a soft laugh. He could imagine how Mark must be shaking his head right now at his childish antics too.

Mark slipped into the empty chair beside him and moved his head so that it could be rested comfortably against his shoulder. Donghyuck all but sighed the moment that his head landed on Mark's shoulder. It was warm and snuggly. Donghyuck felt like he could go to bed right then and there. 

"Go to sleep." Mark whispered at him, combing a gentle hand through his hair. The gesture made him even more sleepier than before and it didn't take much for him to admit defeat. 

Burying his nose deep into the hoodie that Mark was wearing, taking in the scent of his fabric softener and the lingering notes of his cologne, he mumbled, "Okay, but only an hour. I need to finish this before class." 

"That's plenty of time." Mark promised him. "It doesn't start until nine." 

"Yeah," Donghyuck stifled a yawn, eyes shutting close, "but I still have to organize all the data points and that's going to take forever..." 

"Worry about that when you wake up. For now, just sleep."

Burying deeper into Mark’s chest, relishing the way Mark’s arms were wrapped so tightly about his body, Donghyuck caved. “Fine. I’ll take a power nap. Twenty minutes top, no more, okay?” 

“Hmm.” 

.

Mark still had him pressed into his chest when he woke up from his power nap. He wasn't sure how Mark had managed it but he was practically sitting in Mark's lap. Eyes blinking blearily, Donghyuck lifted his head up and looked around at his surroundings. Unlike before, there weren't that many students left in the library. Most of them must have gone home to get some sleep before the day would officially start again. 

There was a pair of soft lips against his temple. Donghyuck couldn't help but close his eyes and bask in the tenderness of it. "Did you sleep well?" 

"Yeah, I guess." Donghyuck replied absent-mindedly and ignored the stale taste that he had in his mouth. Eyes immediately searching for the clock, he asked, "What time is it?" 

"It's like almost five?" Mark answered. 

Eyes widening, all traces of sleepiness leaving his system, Donghyuck pushed himself off Mark's chest. "What?" Catching sight of the clock, Donghyuck wanted to pull his hair out. It was indeed almost five. "Why didn't you wake me up?" 

Mark reached out for him and pushed him right back into his chest. Fingers threading through his hair again, Mark said, "You needed the rest."

"But I still have a report to finish up, babe," he whined out loud. Donghyuck really appreciated that Mark allowed him to sleep a little more, but sleep was not the important thing right now. Finishing his report before it was due was much more important. 

"Barely." Mark replied. 

"I wished," he scoffed. 

Donghyuck sent a glare towards his papers but he was surprised to find that they weren't spread out all messily on top of the table anymore. Instead, they were all sorted out and tucked back into its respective folders. He figured that Mark must have organized them while he was sleeping. Beside his folders was also a cup of hot coffee. 

"Is that for me?"

"Yes, chocolate mocha, extra syrup." Mark told him as he nudged the drink closer to his fingers. "It seemed like you needed a little bit of caffeine to push you through the final stretch."

Donghyuck looked up at Mark with wonder, who was already staring down at him, eyes still bright and sparkling even after pulling an all-nighter with him. His heart flipped in his chest once more and Donghyuck simply accepted the fact that he was totally, utterly in love with Mark. There was simply no point in denying it any longer when his heart did these kinds of things when Mark was around. 

His heart knew that he was in love with Mark, for a long time now, probably since the first day that they met. 

"What did I do in my previous life to deserve you?" Donghyuck continued to stare up at the beautiful boy pressed against him in awe. 

Mark laughed, his shoulders shaking to the point that Donghyuck felt more than heard it. "Something worth while I'm sure."

Head still resting on Mark’s shoulder, he reluctantly tugged his computer closer to him, opening back up his unfinished lab report. When he opened it though, Donghyuck was shocked to find that his report was no longer half complete. The more he scrolled through his report, the more shocked he felt. He balked at the sight of all the completed graphs and data charts. Those  _ definitely  _ weren’t there when he took his power nap. 

Lifting his head up, mouth dropping wide open, Donghyuck was flabbergasted. Reaching for his papers, he compared all of the charts to the data that he collected. They were all correct, from what he could see at least. Donghyuck sucked at the whole graphing ordeal because excel sheets were pure shit.

Slumping back against Mark’s warm chest, he mumbled out, “Did you do this?”

“Hm? The graphs?” Mark asked, wrapping an arm around his body. “Yeah, I did. You mentioned that you hated doing them, so as your favorite business major, I figured that I could help you out a little.” 

Donghyuck was so in love with Mark, there was no question about it. 

.

Not counting the major power nap that he got earlier that morning, Donghyuck barely had four hours of sleep under his belt. With that being said, he was absolutely  _ exhausted.  _ Presenting his report to the professor had taken every last bit of energy that he had. Donghyuck wanted nothing more than to crawl under his blankets and knock out for the rest of the week. 

Digging around the bottom of his bag, Donghyuck searched blindingly for his keys. He nearly fell asleep leaning against the doorframe until his fingers finally brushed across them. Hastily pulling them out and unlocking the door, Donghyuck immediately toed off his shoes once he was inside. He didn’t even bother to set them neatly against the wall like he should have, instead Donghyuck stumbled through the living room and headed towards the bedroom in the back. Mark was probably going to lecture him about it later, but he didn’t care. All that he had on his mind at the moment, was pillows, blankets, and sleep. 

Halfway through his trek though, the sound of a spoon falling onto the floor reached his ears. Sleepiness ebbing way for a second, Donghyuck looked over to the kitchen, catching the way Jaehyun was staring at him with wide eyes, the tips of his ears turning pink. 

It became exceedingly quiet afterwards with Jaehyun still staring at him and him staring back, but neither one of them saying a single word. It looked like Jaehyun wanted to say something though, judging from the way that he kept on staring so hard, pinning Donghyuck down with his gaze. Donghyuck watched the way he opened and closed his mouth a couple times, before deciding against it and leaning down to pick up the spoon that he dropped. 

Donghyuck didn’t have anything to say to him either. He didn’t have anything to say to Jaehyun for quite some time now. Not bothering to linger around anymore, Donghyuck shouldered his bag and began walking again. As he stepped into Mark’s room, he heard Jaehyun calling out for him, but Donghyuck shut the door behind him. 

Tossing his backpack onto the floor, right next to Mark’s, Donghyuck dragged his feet across the carpeted floor, chucking off his hoodie while he was at it. The weather had gotten a little chillier than usual with the summer weather slowly transitioning into autumn. But the closer he got to the bed though, catching sight of the way Mark’s bare back was facing towards him, Donghyuck decided to discard his shirt too. It always got a little too toasty anyways whenever he cuddled and took naps with Mark. The both of them personally radiated enough heat to keep a whole floor warm. Times that by two, the heat cultivating and burying in the sheets was unbearable. 

Slipping underneath the covers and burying his face deep into the junction of Mark’s neck, he kissed the skin there tenderly. Donghyuck sighed, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and the air suddenly becoming a little easier to breathe as Mark’s body heat began to seep under his skin, warming him up all the way to his toes. 

Mark stirred under his touch, his messy bed hair poking out from under the blankets. Eyes still closed, Mark smiled lazily at him, turning his body around so that he could face him. “Hey, baby…” His voice was so low and raspy, Donghyuck loved it. 

"Hey to you too, sleepyhead." Donghyuck whispered back, leaning in closer to Mark's touch.

He felt Mark tangling his fingers in his hair, combing through all the small knots that formed during his walk over. Eyes easily shutting, Donghyuck pressed his face into Mark's chest, listening to the sound of Mark's steady heartbeat. Hearing the familiar and comforting sound, it didn't take that much longer for sleep to take over.

.

When he finally came around again, the first thing that crossed Donghyuck's mind was that it was hot, like super duper hot. Rolling over onto his back with a groan, Donghyuck kicked away at the stifling blankets, trying to get as far away from them as possible. Nap times with Mark were always great, until this very moment. He was sweaty all over and there was a lingering stale taste in his mouth, all in all it was quite disgusting.

"Why do we do this every time?" He moaned, rolling even further away from Mark's burning body. Donghyuck buried his face into the other spare pillow, praying that it would be cool to the touch. It was, but it did nothing to help with the insane heat that was coursing through his veins.

"Because I'm a great cuddler, that's why." Mark laughed breezily, seeming to be completely unaffected by the heat accumulating between their bodies. Mark even went as far as rolling over, right on top of him, pressing his body deeper into the mattress with his own.

"Oh, my gosh. Get off, Mark." Donghyuck cried out, arms coming out from under him to push Mark away. "You're way too hot for this right now."

"Why, thank you."

Peeking one eye open, Donghyuck groaned again at the sight of the easy smile that was on Mark's face. Giving Mark's bare chest another hard shove, he said, "This is not the time to be cocky. Seriously, I'm about to catch on fire and die. Move."

Instead of moving away, Mark moved in even closer, right until his face was hovering above his own, a breath away. "You're so dramatic, Donghyuck. You're not going to die."

With Mark up so close, the unbearable hotness that had been consuming his whole mind slowly disappeared, until all that he could really focus on was the way Mark's dark eyes were so stunning. No matter how many times that Donghyuck stared into them, there wasn't a single time where he didn't get lost in those beautiful abysses.

The longer that he stared, the more lost he got in the beauty of Mark's eyes, how they shined so prettily. The uncomfortable heat eating away at his soul, calmed until it was a buzzing warmth under his skin.

"See, a minute later and you're still alive." Mark smiled, eyes tinkling in a way that made his heart lurched into his throat. Mark cupped his face in his hands, moving in until their noses were touching, a gentle touch that sent a spark all the way to his toes. "Plus if you did, I'm CPR certified. You're not going to die under my watch any time soon."

Licking his lips, Donghyuck cleared his throat. “Well, I might die if you don’t kiss me right now…”

There was a teasing smile on Mark’s lips now. Donghyuck held his breath as Mark ran his fingers down the side of his face, absent-mindedly tracing over his beauty marks. He could practically feel Mark’s lips on his own, closer, but definitely not close enough. Donghyuck wanted to melt into Mark until they became whole and one. 

“We can’t have that happen, now, can we?” 

“Mark Lee, if you don’t fucking kiss me right now — .” 

Donghyuck didn’t think that he could possibly ever get over the feeling of being kissed by Mark. Being kissed by Mark, like that, was indescribable. He could try, but truthfully, there weren’t enough words in the whole universe, across all the languages, to accurately describe how it felt to be kissing Mark. 

There was a fire that lived within all of Mark’s kisses. Each time their lips would brush against each other, it made Donghyuck melt. Mark had a way of kissing him in a way that took all of his breath away, as if his lips were air itself, and Mark was a dying man yearning for a single last breath. Mark kissed him as if his very life depended on it. 

Donghyuck had been kissed a fair amount of times in his life, but he had never been kissed like the way that Mark was kissing him. He had never been so lost in a kiss before, a kiss that was burning him alive. Each kiss was like the first with Mark. The space between them exploding and the air electrifying. His heart was skipping beats left and right. And whenever Mark would turn the kiss a little slower, a little more chaste, the faster his heart would beat. 

Even with his eyes closed, Mark kissed him in a way that still allowed him to see the entire world. With his kisses, Mark painted him pictures of his deepest wants and desires — a vision of them in the future, still together, and so in love. Donghyuck could see them like this, all tangled up in the sheets, kissing good morning like it was the sole reason that the sun decided to rise from the East and shine across the world. 

The picture that Mark painted for him was a little hazy around the edges, but the one definite thing that was crystal clear was them — him and Mark. It was so vivid that Donghyuck wanted to laugh, and then perhaps cry a little because he realized that Mark was the only person that he was truly supposed to kiss for the rest of his life. It was absolutely terrifying, to realize this, but Donghyuck also saw how lucky he was that he had found it. Still, it was terrifying because he didn’t want that to ever go away. Now that he had gotten a taste, Donghyuck didn’t know what he would do with his life if it would just all disappear. 

So he kissed Mark back a little harder. Donghyuck kissed him deeply and necessarily. He continued to kiss Mark wildly, wanting nothing more than to overcome all his senses with everything that was Mark. He poured the truth within his heart all out into the kiss, hoping — praying that somehow, one way or another, that Mark could understand what he was feeling. 

Donghyuck loved him. He could say this a million times over and it wouldn’t be enough. He really loved Mark.

He tried to dismiss the flutters of his heart as sole physical attraction towards Mark. But he was dumb to think that something so physical wouldn’t transform into something a little more. He was so in love with Mark, there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind. After all this time, since the very first moment that their eyes have met, Donghyuck was in love with Mark. Donghyuck was in love with him, yesterday and today. And he will continue to be in love with Mark even tomorrow and probably for the rest of his life. 

Donghyuck wanted to scream this out loud at the top of his lungs for the entire world to hear. It was his little secret that he had been hiding this entire time and he was ready to let it be known. He  _ wanted  _ Mark to know, but a huge part of him didn’t want Mark to know either. Donghyuck liked the way they were right now, he didn’t want something as stupid as a love confession to tear what they had to pieces. They still haven’t talked about what happened at the party nor have they talked about the true definition of their relationship. But that was alright, Donghyuck was content with what they had. He was only content to some extent though. 

So, when they parted for air, their lips both equally bruised and swollen, Donghyuck nearly let it slip out. Mind a bit fuzzy and body relaxed, he took one look into Mark’s eyes, and the words were on the tip of his tongue. “I l — ,” Donghyuck clamped his mouth shut right before the second word could escape. 

“You what?” Mark asked him, breathing still a little unsteady as he tried to catch his breath. Fingers still tangled in his hair, Mark brushed a lock behind his ears, urging him to continue on with a little nudge. “Say it.” 

His heart was in his throat and he could hear how fiercely his blood was thundering his ears. The fog that had covered his mind disappeared instantly as he caught his mistake before it happened. He was on edge now, body so tensed as he tried to find a way to cover up his slip up. Donghyuck hoped that Mark wouldn’t notice, but Mark caught on to everything. 

Mark combed his fingers through his hair, being extra careful whenever they would get caught in some unruly sections. Eyes never leaving his own, Mark whispered, “You wanted to say something? Tell me. I’m listening.” Mark’s words were tender and warm across his cheeks and Donghyuck couldn’t help but close his eyes. 

There was something in the way that Mark said those words that made him believe that maybe he felt the same way too. Or Mark at least wanted to hear the words that he had been dying to say for months now. That made his heart rate return back to normal, but that didn’t lessen the fear that he felt — fear of the consequences he would face if he allowed those three words to be heard.

Suppressing his urge to blurt them out, Donghyuck looped his arms around Mark’s neck and pulled him down until they were chest to chest, and kissed him, hard. The harshness of the kiss took Mark by surprise, a gasp leaving his lips when Donghyuck bit down on his bottom lip. It was only when those breathy gasps turned into low moans that he finally allowed his body to relax. With their mouths occupied, the conversation that they had beforehand was shoved to the back of their minds, and Donghyuck hoped that it would stay unspoken for a long time, or at least until he could gather up enough courage to say the words. 

Mark started to tug on his locks, angling his face a little to the right to deepen the kiss. The hand that was drawing random shapes down the surface of his arms came up to leave burning touches all across his bare chest. The comfortable warmth that was lingering underneath his skin erupted into a scorching fire that was slowly consuming him whole and taking every last breath in his body with it. It had barely been a couple minutes, but Mark had already gotten him so wound up. Unable to take it any longer, he pushed against Mark’s chest, legs locking around his waist, and flipped them over. 

The move wasn’t as graceful as he had intended. He nearly knocked Mark out with one of his elbows and Mark might have almost twisted his ankle by landing on it, but it was alright. 

“You’re insane.” Mark laughed at him, head thrown back against the bed frame as his hands came up to rest on his hips. “Like so fucking insane. Your little move could have ended up with us in the ER, you know?” 

“But it didn’t.” Donghyuck commented. Placing his hands down on Mark’s chest, he leaned forward to capture his lips again. “So don’t worry about it.” 

“When it comes to you, I always worry.” 

Donghyuck ignored the softness of Mark’s voice and the way his heart skipped a beat. Instead, he continued to kiss Mark absolutely senseless, aiming to erase whatever it was that Mark was trying to start with his heart-fluttering words. Effectively shutting Mark up with his mouth and a roll of his hips, Donghyuck pressed Mark even deeper into the mattress. 

He could tell that Mark was trying very hard to gain control, but Donghyuck was determined to keep it. Pulling away from his lips, Donghyuck began to leave hot-opened mouth kisses down Mark’s bare chest, smirking against his hot skin when he felt a shiver run through Mark’s body. 

“You talk too much, babe,” Donghyuck mumbled in between kisses, making Mark tighten the grip he has on his hips as his other hand started to move a little lower, inching closer towards his ass. Leaning back up, Donghyuck took one glance at Mark’s flushed face before he dived in and licked at the pulse point, right next to his collarbone, lips sucking and biting it until it became red and raw. 

“Tell me how you’re going to shut me up then,” Mark egged him on, his hands now fully on his ass. 

Donghyuck ignored his comment and instead, he asked in return, “You’re clean, right? We both got tested a week ago.” He continued to press a series of kisses up and down Mark’s neck, not stopping even for a second as he waited for Mark to answer his question. 

“Yeah, we’re both clean.” Mark replied, voice laced to the brim with confusion. “But I’m not really following where you’re going with this right now though…” 

Teeth grazing at the shell of his ear, Donghyuck whispered, “Because I want to ride you,  _ raw.”  _

Mark’s hips buckle up to meet his instantly, creating the fiction that the both of them had been craving for. Donghyuck moaned at the contact, lips falling open as Mark surged in to kiss him madly. There was way too much tongue and way too much teeth, but none of that really mattered because the fire that was coiling in his stomach was beginning to become too much to handle. 

Mark took a hold of his bottom lip, pulling it between his teeth. Licking at it once before he let it go, Donghyuck caught his gaze, eyes still sparkling with stars in them, except this time, they were full of want and lust. “Then do it. What’s stopping you?”

Not needed to be told twice, Donghyuck tugged on the waistband of Mark’s sweats and pulled it down. He did the same with his not more than a second later. As he lowered himself back down onto Mark’s lap, Donghyuck sucked in a breath as their dicks brushed against another, completely free of the clothes that were once in their way. 

Donghyuck knew that Mark was riled up, especially with the way he grabbed his ass, moving him closer so that he could kiss him again. Before Mark could press another scalding kiss against his lips, he leaned back and reached for Mark’s dick, wrapping his hand tightly around it, working up a tempo, stroking him short and fast. 

Mark didn’t say anything for a while, nothing except for the low moans and sighs that escaped from his lips. Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile at the way that Mark was putty in his hands, responding so well to every single one of his touches. 

Slowly down, much to Mark’s utter displeasure, Donghyuck opened the night stand by the bed and rummaged around for the bottle of lube that he knew Mark kept in there. Grasping the familiar bottle, he tossed it at Mark, “Can you prep me?”

Mark gazed back at him through his eyelashes and chuckled. Taking a hold of the bottle of lube, he squeezed it onto his fingers as he said, “Is that even a question?” Hand coming back up to rest on his hip, Mark readjusted his body on his lap. “C’mere.” 

He leaned close, right until their chests were touching, hot skin pressed against each other. Mark kissed him soft and slow as he reached behind him, finger circling at his entrance, before he sinked it in, right down to the knuckle. 

Donghyuck gasped into his mouth, rolling his hips down on Mark’s finger, hoping to get them to go a little deeper, but Mark wasn’t having any of that. Mark worked his finger in and out of him, slow and steady, almost too slow for Donghyuck’s taste. “You can do a little faster, I’m not going to break if you do,” Donghyuck whined against his lips. “And maybe add another finger, that would be nice too.” 

Shaking his head at his impatience, Mark added in a second finger, and began to work his fingers a little faster, complying with his wishes. The stretch of it all was incredible and he practically mewled when Mark curled his fingers, angling them upwards, hitting right at his sweet spot. But that feeling was nothing in comparison to the jolt of pleasure that shot through his body when Mark added a third finger, making the stretch burn just a little as the pad of his fingers barely grazed over his prostate. 

Throwing his head back and arching his back, Donghyuck tried to chase after that feeling again as he clenched around Mark’s fingers. But his eyes snapped open when Mark stopped thrusting his fingers inside of him, instead Mark began to slowly scissor him wide open. 

Not bothering to contain the displeased whine that fell from his lips, Donghyuck dropped his hips down, wanting to sink deeper down on the fingers. His head was spinning in beat with his frantic heart, the blood pounding in his ears as he gritted out, “I don’t appreciate the teasing, Mark.” 

Mark all but smiled back at him sweetly, before he pulled his fingers out completely. “I think that’s enough foreplay. I think it’s time for you to ride me baby.” 

Donghyuck didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed the bottle of lube that they had abandoned earlier and coated his fingers excessively with it before he reached behind him to grab a hold of Mark’s dick, smearing the lube down his entire length. Lining it up, Donghyuck sank down on it, fast and hard. 

Both of his and Mark’s moans were lost to the sound of skin slapping against skin. Even with how much Mark had already stretched him out beforehand, it still burned, but it felt so  _ good.  _ With his ass pressed firmly against Mark’s thigh, Donghyuck saw stars behind his eyelids. Mark’s dick was buried so deep inside that he could cry from the jolt of pleasure he felt. 

He couldn’t believe that they’ve made it this far without him riding Mark like that at least once and doing it completely raw. Not having a single thing separating them, not even the rubbery latex of a condom was mind-blowing. The stretch was more and he just felt it  _ more _ . Mark filled him up in ways that were unimaginable and it was just amazing. 

Lifting his ass up, pulling almost completely off of Mark’s dick, Donghyuck used Mark’s shoulders as leverage before he slammed back down again. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ .” Mark threw his head back against the bed frame, fingers digging into his waist almost painfully as he breathed out, “Just like that baby.” 

Donghyuck can’t help but clench around Mark as the tip of his dick brushed against his prostate, sending waves after waves of pleasure up his spine. Wanting to feel it again, Donghyuck lifted himself up and came back down, Mark helping him this time around. 

They found a perfect rhythm after a couple more times, one that made Mark hit his prostate dead on each move. It didn’t take long for Mark to begin thrust up into him, meeting him halfway with each bounce. The sound of their skin making contact with each other was loud, but the groans and grunts that fell from their lips were even louder. It was probably so loud that Mark’s neighbors could hear them, but Donghyuck didn’t really give a damn if they did or not. He was more focused on picking up the pace and getting Mark to continue to hit his sweet spot over and over again. 

Dropping his eyes down, Donghyuck felt his throat run dry at the sight he saw. With the amount of lube that they had both used, Mark was sliding in and out him with ease. The sound that came from each slide was wet and filthy, just how the both of them liked it. Donghyuck was mesmerized by the way Mark’s dick disappeared within him. He wanted to commit that sight into his mind forever because it was hot as hell. 

It was also then that Donghyuck felt someone’s eyes burning holes in his face. He looked up at Mark, assuming that it was him staring at him so intensely. But he was confused when he saw that Mark had his eyes shut tight, completely blissed out as he leaned back against the bed. 

Still riding Mark out, the bed creaking underneath all of his movement, Donghyuck turned his head towards the door. He nearly fell over in shock as he came eye to eye with Jaehyun, who was staring at him, hard, eyes hazy and mouth dropped wide open. Jaehyun’s sudden presence made his slide on Mark’s dick stutter for a split second, but Donghyuck was quick to get it back to normal. Donghyuck wasn’t sure why Jaehyun was there right now, but if he already saw him and Mark like this, and stayed, then Donghyuck might as well give him a show that was worthwhile. Plus, he might have also wanted to rub it into Jaehyun’s face that his new boyfriend, Doyoung, would never be able to ride him out as amazing as he was riding Mark out. 

Eyes never leaving Jaehyun’s, Donghyuck tightened his hold on Mark’s shoulder as he pulled all the way out to the tip of Mark’s length. Mark was a squirming mess under him as he scrambled to get him to come back down, already missing his clenching warmth around him. Sucking in a deep breath, Donghyuck smirked at Jaehyun before he slammed down on Mark’s dick, extra  _ hard.  _

He did this over and over again until he had Mark shouting for his name. “Donghyuck, you’re fucking amazing.” 

Smiling at Jaehyun, he answered, “Hm, I know baby.” 

“You’re always so good to me — wait, what are you looking at?” Mark asked him before he let out a strangled noise once he noticed Jaehyun, who was still standing in the doorway, staring at them. Pulling him back down to his chest as Mark tugged the comforter over the both of their bodies, before groaning out a displeased, “Dude, bro, come on! Privacy!” 

When Jaehyun showed no signs of leaving, Mark grumbled, “I know that Johnny and Taeyong lets you watch them going at it sometimes, but this is weird as fuck. So can you please leave?” 

Donghyuck buried his face into the nape of Mark’s neck and snickered. Paying no attention to the heated conversation that was happening between the two roommates, Donghyuck tightened his arms around Mark’s neck before he purposely clenched around the dick that was still buried deep inside of him.

A shuddering breath fanned against his cheeks as a result before Mark hissed back at him hotly, “Babe, stop it. I’m going to cum if you do.” 

“Go ahead.” Donghyuck kissed Mark’s cheek. “What’s stopping you?” 

Eyes narrowing, Mark bit out, “Do I need to remind you that my fucking roommate, who’s also your ex is still here, watching us?” 

“So what?” Donghyuck laughed, clenching around Mark again. This time he grinded his ass down a little more, adding a little more pressure. “Let him watch.” 

But before Mark could protest against it, Donghyuck lifted himself up and slammed back down without another word, rendering Mark speechless. After doing this a couple more times, Donghyuck began to feel the burn in his thighs, but that did nothing to stop the coil that was winding up more and more with each thrust. 

Sagging against Mark’s body, he mumbled, “You close?” 

“Yeah,” Mark hummed. Catching the way that his moves were slowly getting less precise and more sloppy, Mark began to thrust up into him a little harder, helping him out by bringing him down onto each one by his hips. 

The coil in his stomach continued to tighten up, until it was on the verge of exploding in white, hot heat. He tried to match the pace of Mark’s thrust; speeding up his movements, going faster, and slamming down a little harder. 

Donghyuck crushed his lips against Mark’s, mouthing, “ _ Come inside of me.”  _

Upon hearing this, Mark picked up the pace, if it was even possible, his thrusts deep and erratic, borderline brutal, but Donghyuck didn’t care. It felt so  _ fucking good.  _ Donghyuck loved it.

It only took another thrust or two, before Mark came, biting onto his bottom lip as he did. Donghyuck followed not that long after, especially when he felt Mark pulse inside of him, spilling over, coating him with a wet warmth. 

They were panting into each other’s mouth, trying hard to regain their breaths. It took them a couple minutes to calm down their beating hearts and for each of their orgams to pass over. Once the stars finally fall back from his vision, Donghyuck felt Mark brush his damp, sweaty hair back away from his forehead. “You’re insane.” 

Barking out a laugh, Donghyuck leaned in to kiss him. “Just for you.” 

And when he peeked at the door out of the corner of his eye, Donghyuck saw that Jaehyun was gone. Satisfied, he pressed another kiss to Mark’s lips. “Also, that was hands down the best sex I’ve ever had.” 

“You say that alot.” Mark laughed. “But I guess my dick is pretty amazing after all.” 

.

Even though summer had already ended and they were already a couple weeks into the fall season, the weather was still sweltering hot. 

It was early afternoon so the sun was at its peak in the sky, beaming down on them merciless, but Donghyuck didn’t mind the heat. He liked it. He also didn’t mind the way that Mark was standing in between his legs, leaning back up against him, their warm skin touching. Eyes closed and face tilted up at the sun, Donghyuck listened to the silly conversations that were happening around him and the sound of water splashing in the pool. 

He continued to allow the sun’s rays to kiss his cheeks, warming them up for him. With his legs half dangling in the waters, it felt perfect. 

“You’ll get your nose sunburnt if you continue to stare at the sun like that." Mark commented and Donghyuck could feel an elbow coming up to rest on the top of his thigh.

Peeking over his shades, Donghyuck glanced down at him, taking in Mark's wet hair and already red cheeks. "Nah. I'll be fine. You on the other hand, look like you're getting a little fried." When Mark didn't say anything back and took a sip of his drink instead, Donghyuck wrinkled his nose. "Also, gross. I don't understand how you drink that shit."

"What? This?' Mark laughed, raising the beer bottle up to look at it closely. "You're just a baby."

"No. You just don't have taste buds," he retorted. Then shrugging his shoulders, Donghyuck smiled at him cheekily. "Which is probably the reason why you can't cook either."

Mark splashed some water on him in retaliation. "Oh, shut up. I told you I couldn't fry an egg, but you still made me do it anyways."

"Knowing how to fry a proper egg is an important life skill."

"You're never going to let me live that moment down, are you?" Mark sighed, slouching back against him once again.

"Nope. Never." Donghyuck laughed, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of Mark's head. Eyeing the drink in Mark's hands for a second longer, he reached out for it. "Now, let me try this disgusting thing." 

Mark shook his head, but handed him the bottle anyways. "No one said that you had to drink it."

"No, but I felt like you were daring me anyway." Donghyuck commented, nimble fingers wrapping around the cool bottle. "Daring me to try to prove you wrong. Right?" 

He didn't wait to hear what Mark had to say. Lifting the drink up to his lips, Donghyuck took a swing of it, but the moment that the alcohol touched his tongue, Donghyuck regretted it instantly. Just as he had expected, it tasted bitter and it was foul. Resisting the urge to spit the drink out, he sputtered for a second, before swallowing it all down. 

Thrusting the drink back into Mark's hand, he coughed out, "That shit was fucking nasty. Oh, my god. Never again." 

Mark laughed, loud and clear, before tilting his head up and motioning him to come closer. "C'mere, I’ll make it taste better." 

Mark's lips were on his before he could even do anything else. The sun was warm, but Mark's lips were even warmer. It was quick and wet, the kiss barely lasting for more than a couple seconds, but it did its job regardless. 

He was overwhelmed by the bitter taste of the drink on Mark’s tongue, nearly making him lean back from the kiss. Mark didn't allow that to happen though as he held on, slipping a hand behind his neck to keep him in place. Mark pressed his lips hard against his own, tongue coming out to lick his bottom lip, urging him to part his mouth, for him to slip his tongue inside. As fast as the bitter taste came, it left just as fast, and in its place was something surprisingly sweet. 

Mark back dropped back down into the water, creating ripples in the pool by his movements. An easy smile on his lips, he asked, "Taste better?" 

Donghyuck stared back at him, eyes wide as his mind tried to fully comprehend what was on his tongue. Rolling the hard candy around on his mouth, he gaped at Mark. "You sneaky motherfucker." 

Mark shrugged as he tilted his head back to take another sip. "But it works." 

"Do you do this every time?" 

"No. This was actually the first time," Mark replied.

"Why?" Donghyuck was confused. 

He had seen Mark drink plenty of times before, never opting for the sugary drinks that he typically preferred. Mark always went for the bitter tasting ones. He drank it like it was nothing, so there wasn't really any reason why Mark would need to pull a move like that this time around. After all the drinking and partying that they've done together, Donghyuck knew for a fact that Mark could handle his alcohol pretty well. 

"I had a feeling you might want a taste today." Mark answered as he threw a wink in his direction. "You've been eyeing my drink like it killed your cat or something for the past couple of hours." 

And it was because of this reason, among plenty of others, that made it so easy to fall in love with Mark. Mark, who was so caring and always looking out for him, even in situations he could never think of. 

"You're like unreal, I swear." Donghyuck was fully intent on kissing Mark absolutely senseless, but that was before some yelled out for the both of them. 

"Incoming!" 

Faster than he could even blink his eyes, Mark was already launching himself out of the waters, right hand reaching upwards for the mini basketball hurling towards them. Catching it with ease, Mark spun it on the tip of his fingers, shouting, “Yo, watch it! You can’t mess up my baby’s face.” 

“Sorry! We weren’t trying to smash anyone’s face.” Johnny hollered back at the two of them. Then waving his arms around wildly, he motioned for Mark to pass the ball back to him. “But send it back over, will ya? We’re still in the middle of a game.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I wasn’t going to keep it anyways!” Mark shouted. 

Donghyuck watched as Mark juggled it a couple times in between his fingers before Mark looked at him in the eye, saying, “Hey, Hyuck, this one is for you.” 

Even though they were on the other side of the pool, the other guys still heard him and Donghyuck was taken aback by the loud shouts that filled the air. “Dude, don’t embarrass your boyfriend like that!”

Mark didn’t seem all that bothered by their shouts as he jumped and shot the ball back over to them, his arm and wrist following all the way through with the throw. Once it was released from his hands, the ball sailed through the air in a perfect arch, before going through the hoop on the other side cleanly. 

“Wait, what the fuck? It went in?” Johnny exclaimed in disbelief. Head whipping around to look at Mark again, he added, “That’s a first.” 

“You make it sound like I miss my shot every time or something, Johnny.” 

“Dude, you kind of do.” 

“Whatever.” Mark scoffed. Then leaning back against him, Mark peered up at him expectantly, “So, do I get a kiss for that?”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, but he leaned down to give Mark his winning smooch anyways. 

.

The screams around them were deafening. It was a Friday night and the first football game of the season. Not to mention it was on the home turf too, so the students in the bleachers were going wild. The stadium was rumbling from how loud everyone was cheering. 

Donghyuck thrived off of that kind of energy, he was buzzing with excitement, body feeling a little floaty and heart drumming. The last part was probably due to the fact that Mark was standing right in front of him, decked out in his game uniform, one that made his ass look  _ fucking great.  _

“Hey, baby,” Mark greeted him as he came close, reaching over the metal gates to pull him in for a kiss, fingers threading through his hair, scratching at his scalp soothingly. 

Donghyuck smiled in the kiss and his hands flew up to find purchase on the front of Mark’s jersey to keep himself from falling. “Hey to you too.” 

Mark had a way of making him feel so, so warm. It would always start with a budding warmth within his chest before traveling to every inch of his body. It was a warmth that he wanted to feel thrumming underneath his skin for hours on end, no matter how hot it would get. 

“You look cute today,” Mark complimented him, staring at the varsity jacket adorning his shoulders. “Not that you’re not cute on the daily. You just look extra cute today.” 

Shoving his hands into the pockets of Mark’s jacket, Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “You’re only saying that because I’m wearing your clothes.” 

Mark leaned in to kiss him again, this time a little longer than the first. “I mean that could be it too, but seriously, you’re always cute. My cute baby.” 

“Ugh, stop it.” Donghyuck groaned, cheeks flushing as Mark continued to coo over him and showering him with all the affection in the world. Pushing Mark away from him, he added, “I think you hit your head too many times during the warm up practice.” 

“Me and my braincells are perfectly fine.” 

“Debatable,” he teased. 

Mark was ready to disagree with him again when a couple of his teammates hollered for him to come back over to the field, effectively shutting him up. 

Laughing, Donghyuck gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “You should know that I always win all of our arguments anyways so don’t waste your breath. Now get your ass back over to your team, you have a game to win, babe.” 

“Do I get something if I do?” Mark quipped, eyes gleaming under the bright lights of the stadium. 

“Maybe, I don’t know.” Donghyuck shrugged, smiling back at him. 

With a sigh, Mark shook his head. “Fine, but can I at least get a good luck kiss?” 

“You already got one, earlier. Two kisses in fact.”

“Then a third one shouldn’t be a problem would it?” Mark continued to ask, leaning closer and closer, his elbows resting on the metal gates separating them. 

Donghyuck crossed his arms and pretended to think about it for a second. “I don’t know… you came for a hard bargain, Lee.” 

“Donghyuck, come on, one more kiss!” Mark whined, throwing in a pout for an extra measure, hoping that it would persuade him. 

“Oh, just come here you big baby.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes, stepping forward to close the distance between them. 

Mark was full on smiling into the kiss, so much that the kiss became nothing but teeth. Donghyuck tried to kiss him for a little while longer because Mark was smiling too much for him to even properly do it. But it was pointless since it didn’t look like Mark was going to stop grinning like an absolute fool anytime soon. 

Faking annoyance, Donghyuck shoved him away, "Okay, I think that's enough. Now go kick the other team's asses." 

Popping his mouth guard back in, Mark saluted him as he left, "You got it captain."

Four hours later, Donghyuck was still sitting in the bleachers with the rest of his friends, throat raw from all the screaming and cheering he did. It was worth it though, because as the time clock ticked down its final seconds, Mark and the rest of the team took home another victory. 

Jumping to his feet along with the rest of the student section the moment the clock hit zero, Donghyuck cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered for Mark’s name. He was running on a rush of adrenaline, body feeling light and airy. His heart was hammering in his chest but he loved the feeling. The only thing he could possibly love more in that moment was the way Mark heard him call his name immediately, even amongst all the commotion happening in the stadium, and turned around to face him. 

There was a wide smile on Mark’s lips, not surprisingly, since he had made most of the winning plays for the night, as usual. Despite the distance, Mark still waved and shot a wink back to him, making his cheeks burn. But not much later, Donghyuck watched Mark become swamped by the rest of his teammates, all who were hooting and hollering, celebrating their win. 

“We’re going out for dinner, are you coming with us?” Renjun asked, already fully packed up and ready to go, the face paint that he had on his cheeks starting to smudge off. 

Gathering up his own belongings, Donghyuck shook his head. “Nah, so don’t wait for me.” 

“Let me guess,” Renjun crossed his arms, raising a slightly judgemental eyebrow at him as he said, “you’re getting some celebratory dick instead.” 

Donghyuck laughed loudly, his voice carrying over all the noise. “Yupp,” he said, making sure to pop the  _ ‘p’  _ as he said it, “you know it.” 

“Ugh,” Renjun groaned, “I don’t even want to know where you guys are going to get it on at.” 

With it being the start of the weekend, combined with a school victory, everyone was quick to clear out of the stadium and locker rooms. Everyone was all hyped up and ready to party the rest of the night away. 

As he pushed through the doors of the locker room, his phone lit up with a new message. 

_ ‘The locker room is clear :)’  _

Donghyuck bit back a snort.  _ ‘When has it ever been a problem to me if the locker room is still occupied or not?’ _

Because it really hadn’t. Donghyuck had been in the locker rooms plenty of times before, even when Mark’s teammates were still there. No one batted an eye when he first did it, so there really wasn’t anything stopping him from doing it again. 

He found Mark just fresh out of the shower, his hair and body still drenching from it. Mark stood in the middle of the room, a hand securing the towel that he had wrapped around his hips, while his other hand was gliding rapidly across the screen of his phone. 

Donghyuck felt his heart jump at the sight before him, because post shower Mark was ridiculously hot. 

Walking towards him, Donghyuck plucked Mark’s cell phone out of his hand and tossed it onto the bench, letting it disappear in the pile of clothes Mark had laid out. Not caring that Mark was still dripping wet, Donghyuck wound his arms around Mark’s waist, pulling their bodies flush together. 

With their faces so close to one another, Donghyuck could smell the lovely scent of Mark’s shampoo and body wash. It made his head spin with arousal. Then pressing a kiss against Mark’s jawline, just shy of the sensitive spot below his ear, he mouthed against the skin there, “You were amazing tonight.” 

Mark chuckled, his entire frame shaking beneath Donghyuck’s hold. “Thanks, baby.” Mark tilted his head a little to the side, before giving him a big smooch right on his cheeks. “I had to win knowing that you were watching me. I couldn’t have possibly allowed you to be embarrassed by my crappy ass plays.” 

“I would have murdered you if you played like shit,” he agreed. Then reaching into his pockets, Donghyuck pulled out two metallic packets. Waving them in front of Mark’s face, he said cheekily, “But since you didn’t, let’s celebrate, yeah?” 

Not waiting for Mark’s reply, Donghyuck tugged at the towel Mark still had around his waist and Mark allowed him to take it off with little to no resistance. Pushing Mark back into the shower stalls behind them, Donghyuck asked, “You have some extra clothes that I can borrow right?” 

“Yeah, I got some in my locker.” Mark nodded, eyes growing dark as Donghyuck continued to back him up until this back was pressed against the cold, tiled walls of the shower. 

“Good.” Donghyuck threw him one last smile before he twisted the shower head back on, warm water raining down on them, soaking his clothes completely. 

He didn’t really care though, not when Mark was already diving in, kissing him at a bruising rate. 

.

“I am not getting on that  _ thing _ .” Mark stated firmly, feet rooted into the ground, not budging an inch from where he was standing. His hands were deep inside his pockets and they were standing far away from the rest of the group. 

“Oh, come on, you have to!” Donghyuck tugged on Mark’s arms, pulling with all his might. “It’s like the main point of the entire park. We have to go. It’ll be a waste if we don’t.” 

“You can go.” Mark shook his head stubbornly. “I’ll wait for you down here.” 

“Mark Lee, don’t be a _ pussy. _ ” He hissed, tugging on Mark’s arms even harder. “It’s a ferris wheel, not that crazy loopy loop roller coaster that Chenle wanted to ride earlier.” 

“Call me whatever you want, but I’m not going on that thing. I would very much like to not fall to my death on a contraption like that.” 

“It goes like a quarter of a mile every ten hours, babe. It’s perfectly safe!” Donghyuck exclaimed. 

“But you forgot that it’s like a billion feet tall. I seriously don’t do heights. I’m sorry, but if you want to go on it so bad, ask one of the other boys to go with you.” 

“I want to ride it with you though!” Donghyuck pouted. Then pointing over at the other couples that tagged along with them, he cried out, “And look, even Jisung is riding it with Chenle. If the biggest baby of the group can go on it, then so can you, Mark.” 

Mark kept quiet at that, glancing over at the two boys in question. Like he had said, Chenle and Jisung were goofing around and pressed all up one another as they stood in line. Jisung, who normally would have taken Mark’s side when it came to amusement park rides and waited with him at the bottom, wasn’t anymore. Jisung didn’t even look a bit scared about getting on the ferris wheel. 

Donghyuck knew that he managed to crack Mark’s resolve by a little when Mark gave out a long sigh. 

“Come on, Mark. I promise that you’ll be fine and it’ll be fun!” 

“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.” Mark sighed yet again as he looked up at the ferris wheel in front of them. 

Donghyuck threw his hands up in the air. “You’re impossible.” Kicking at the gravel on the ground though, he sighed. “Fine. Since there’s no other option, I’ll have to go to my last resort.”

Mark raised a single eyebrow at him, interest clearly caught. 

He was honestly prepared for Mark to say no from the start. Donghyuck knew that Mark was afraid of heights. Mark mentioned it to him once before when they got a little too heart to heart after sex. Donghyuck only hoped that he could help Mark overcome that fear of his. Putting into play that he had planned up, he said, “I dare you to ride the ferris wheel with me.” 

He knew that he pulled the right card judging from the way Mark was sending a glare in his direction. But, hey, Donghyuck did warn him. 

Hands coming back to rest around Mark’s waist, he leaned up to whisper, “Come on, you know you can’t back down from a dare.” Donghyuck rested his chin against Mark’s chest, hands still wrapped tightly around Mark’s body. At the sight of the frown marring Mark’s features, Donghyuck planted a quick kiss on his lips. “And don’t worry, I’ll make it  _ fun. _ ” 

Mark sighed against his lips, body sagging against his own tiredly, before he mumbled under his breath, “If I fall to my death, I will haunt you for the rest of this life and into the next one.” 

“That’s fine, you’re stuck with me forever anyways.” Donghyuck quipped back, but he faltered when he realized what he had just said. 

Heart pounding, he pulled away, only for Mark to wound his arms around him, holding him in place. 

“Yeah,” Mark smiled at him, eyes sparkling under the light of the moon. Then he kissed him tenderly, once on the cheek and then another one his nose, one that drove him crazy. “Forever.” 

When they finally made it over to where the rest of the group was standing in line, Johnny was the first to create a commotion as always. "Wait, the Mark Lee, who's afraid of heights, is actually going to ride the ferris wheel with us?" Taeyong, who was right beside him, gave him a painful jab in the ribs, smiling at them apologetically for Johnny’s outburst.

"Yes, I am getting on the stupid ferris wheel, what about it?" Mark grumbled, nose all scrunched up, which made his glasses slip down the bridge of his nose.

Before it could slip off completely though, Donghyuck hastily reached forward to push it back up. Then personally tucking himself under Mark's arm, he stuck his tongue out at Johnny. "Stop bullying him, Johnny. Don't make all my effort go to waste by scaring him away."

Johnny threw his head back and laughed. "Knowing you, you probably just gave him a couple kisses and that would have been enough to persuade him into joining us." 

"Shut up," Mark bit out, his cheeks turning a little pink 

Johnny laughed even harder at his response. "Knew it." 

Rolling his eyes, Donghyuck quickly came to Mark's rescue again. "Stop teasing us and move, you're next in line!" 

One by one, everyone in their group of friends slowly got onto the ferris wheel, until it was only him and Mark leftover. As they stepped closer to the platform, waiting for the next cart to arrive, the more nervous that Mark seemed to get. 

Pinching Mark's cheeks, Donghyuck cooed at how cute he was acting. "You're such a baby." 

Leaning away from his fingers, Mark took a hold of his hand instead, before stuffing it in his pockets, effectively preventing Donghyuck from doing any more damage to his cheeks. "Stop making fun of me. I don't need both you and Johnny ganging up on me." 

"Relax," he chuckled, relishing in the warmth that Mark was providing. "No more teasing, I promise. And don't worry, I promised that I would make it fun, didn't I?" 

Before Mark could argue with him again about it, the next cart came around and it was time for them to board it.

As the amusement park worker closed the door behind him and waved them off, Mark was a shaking mess in the farthest corner of the cart, legs bouncing up and down. Also as a bad habit that he had picked up from him, Mark was beginning to bite on his nails, nibbling them down to the nail bed. For the amount of times that Mark had yelled at him for biting his nails, Mark sure was ignoring his own words.

Slacking his hand away from his mouth, Donghyuck couldn’t help but teased as he sat across from him, “Dude, you’re like worse than my younger siblings.” 

Donghyuck watched as Mark’s face grew paler, draining of color as they moved higher and higher. Once the evening breeze kicked up a little, knocking against the glass panes, Mark immediately squeezed his eyes shut, knuckles white against his lap. He swore that Mark had stopped breathing all together, even his lips were starting to turn a little bluish. 

Taking pity on him, Donghyuck stood up from where he was sitting, which caused the cart to sway a little, making Mark squeak out, “What are you doing? Sit down!” 

Ignoring Mark’s high pitched protests, Donghyuck quickly closed the distance between them and cupped Mark’s face in his hands. “You’re so tense, babe. You need to relax and just enjoy the view.” 

“Well, it’s kind of hard to do that when the idea of falling to my premature death is looming over my head.” Mark told him, his words coming out a little incoherent because of the way Donghyuck was holding his face. 

“Stop thinking about it and you’ll be fine!” Donghyuck laughed a little, because Mark was being so ridiculous at the moment. Then moving to sit in Mark’s lap before straddling him completely, Donghyuck touched their foreheads together, saying, “Just focus on me and nothing else, okay?” 

Donghyuck didn’t waste any time before he covered Mark’s lips with his own, swallowing every complaint that he had. He kissed Mark,  _ hard,  _ with the goal of taking Mark’s mind off of everything. He wanted Mark to focus on him, and only him, nothing else. 

The kiss was bruising, Donghyuck nipped and pulled at his lips with every chance that he got. He didn’t even allow Mark a second to  _ breathe _ . Even when his own lungs burned for him to stop and get some air, he didn’t. He tangled his fingers deep in Mark’s tousled hair until his nails were grazing Mark’s scalp, his touch tantalizing slow, a stark contrast to how fervently he was moving his lips, kissing Mark absolutely senseless. 

He dragged his fingers down the back of Mark’s neck before he thumbed at the sensitive spot right below Mark’s ear, which made a sound that was pretty close to whine leaving Mark’s lips. Stomach pooling with warmth, Donghyuck could feel the growing hardness pressing against his inner thigh. When Mark buckled his hips up at the same time that he grinded down, he groaned, lips disconnecting as he threw his head back, mind spinning with pent up desire. 

Donghyuck knew that Mark was feeling exactly the same because his starry eyes were clouded over, half-lidded as he stared back at him. 

Mark removed his hands from where they were sitting on his hips. Fingers traveling up until they were grasping his face and Mark pressed his thumb against his spit slickened lips, parting them open. Donghyuck tried to calm his heart rate down, but he knew it was useless. Mark was staring back at him, particular at his lips as his thumb continued to apply more and more pressure. 

Unable to hold back any longer, Donghyuck surged forward to capture Mark’s lips again, already missing the taste of him. Unlike the first time, Mark was prepared for it this time around, so he met Donghyuck with equal ferocity, kissing him fervently. Mark also took back all the control too, angling his face a little to the left to kiss him a little better, before he pushed his tongue into Donghyuck’s mouth. 

It only took a few more hot, opened mouth kisses and Mark rolling his hips upwards for Donghyuck to lose all of his bearing. And when Mark gave his ass a hard squeeze, Donghyuck couldn’t stop the broken noise that slipped past his lips. 

“You’re so noisy, you know that?” Mark teased breathlessly, his fingers running down the back of his spine, making Donghyuck shiver in his hold. 

“But you like it that I’m loud,” Donghyuck fired back, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, but that was probably not going to happen any time soon if Mark’s heated gaze had to say anything. Quickly leaning in to steal another kiss from Mark, he whispered, “Are you relaxed, yet?”

Mark’s frame shook underneath his body as he laughed. Mark ran a thumb along his jawline, caressing it as he said, “Oh, baby, I am anything but relaxed right now. I’m about ready to  _ snap. _ ” 

“Well, I didn’t do a very good job at relaxing you, then.” Donghyuck kissed him again. This time, Donghyuck allowed his lips to hover over Mark’s for a little longer. “And if I remembered correctly, I think I owed you something from a couple of months ago.”

“What?” Mark’s confused response changed into a loud groan as Donghyuck cupped him through his black sweats, his other hand teasing at the waistband. 

“It was a blowjob, right?” Donghyuck asked, innocently, applying a little more pressure against Mark’s dick. 

“Please tell me that you are not going to give me a blowjob — oh my god, Donghyuck,  _ fuck. _ ” 

Donghyuck took in Mark’s entire length, his knees pressed against the cold metal floors of the cart, and Mark’s pants pooling at his calves. As he flattened his tongue on the underside of Mark’s dick, Donghyuck heard Mark’s head hit back against the glass panels with a  _ ‘thump’  _ before Mark spread his legs wider for him to settle into. 

"You're so insane for doing this," Mark sucked in a breath as he hallowed his cheeks, bopping his head up before going back down on it again, his saliva making the slide easier and so much wetter, just the way that Donghyuck knew that Mark liked it. 

Mark's fingers were tangled up in his hair again, pushing him to go deeper as he tried to stop himself from fully thrusting into his mouth. Donghyuck brought one of his free hands up to wrap it around the base of Mark's dick to cover up for what he couldn't take in with his mouth. He spread the precum out with the pad of his thumb as he began to swirl around random patterns with the tip of his tongue. 

He snickered at the way a breathy little gasp left Mark's lips, fingers tightening around his hair, pulling just enough for it to sting. When another moan escaped from Mark, Donghyuck hummed a laugh, only doing so because it would send a vibration around Mark's dick, making Mark buckle his hips forward. 

"Does it feel good?" Donghyuck hummed out again, wanting to see the way Mark was writhing under him, eyes squeezed tight and his cheeks flushed a deep red even under the darkness of the night. 

"So, fucking good, you have no idea." Mark moaned. 

"Let's make it even better." 

"What — ." 

Donghyuck removed his hand and placed it against Mark's thigh, gripping it as he took Mark even a little deeper, until Mark's dick hit the back of his throat. He wanted to thank whoever it was for not giving him that much of a gag reflex or else this wouldn't have been easy to do. Still, Donghyuck tried hard not to cough each time Mark would thrust a little too hard, his dick pressed all the way back, making tears gather in his eyes, dampening his eyelashes. 

He knew that Mark was getting close. Mark's dick was pulsing within his mouth as his hips started to move a little faster, his breathing growing frantic with each thrust. So he swirled his tongue around the head once more, before going down on Mark's dick, this time he dragged his tongue all the way down as well. 

"Ah, fuck, I'm close, Hyuck...," Mark gasped, fingers starting to tug at his hair, trying to get him to get up. "If you don't stop, I'm going cum right in your mouth." 

"That's fine, do it." 

And that was all it took for Mark to cum, shooting his load down his throat. Feeling the sudden hotness and bitter, yet sweet taste in his mouth, Donghyuck sucked on Mark's dick as much as he could, trying to not let anything spill out, swallowing everything. 

His throat burned and there were tears streaming down his cheeks, but that was okay, because Mark was blissed out and so much more relaxed than what he was before. 

Donghyuck made a move to drag the back of his hand across his lips to get rid of the excess cum and spit on his face, but Mark moved faster, pulling him straight back up into his lap before he kissed him deeply. Mark licked at his lips and face, cleaning up the mess that he had made, before pressing soft kisses all over his cheeks and eyelids. 

Giggling under all the attention and affection that Mark was showering him with, Donghyuck reached in between them to tuck Mark back into his sweats. But before doing that though, he stuck his other hand into his jacket's inner pocket and pulled out a pack of wet wipes. 

"You brought wet wipes?" Mark's jaw dropped wide open, his glasses slipping down his nose too. "Oh, my fucking god, Donghyuck, did you plan this?" 

Shrugging, he began to wipe Mark down. "Maybe I did? Maybe I didn't?" 

Donghyuck bit down on his lips as he tried to hold back the fit of laughter that was threatening to spill as Mark started to launch into a whole ramble about him and the blow job he just got. Only half listening to what Mark was truly saying, Donghyuck shoved the used wipes back into his pocket. 

Good thing Mark's pants were dark colored or else the little wet stain on the front would have broadcasted to the entire world the dirty deed they had done on the ferris wheel. Teasingly pulling at the waistband of Mark's pants, he said, "You enjoyed it, alot, so don't act so scandalous about it." Conjuring another pack of wipes from his other packet, this time a pack of Lysol wipes, he motioned Mark to stand up. "Now move, I got to disinfect this place. Can't have your nasty shit lingering around here." 

Mark rolled his eyes but he got up from his seat neverless, the fear that he had at the beginning of the ride seeming to vanish. "Well, sorry to break it to you, but you just swallowed that nasty shit." 

Once he was finished with cleaning the area that they just slightly vandalized, he stepped towards Mark and looped his arms around his waist. Resting his chin on Mark's chest, he said, "Told you that it would be fun." 

"Yeah, I guess the ferris wheel isn't all that bad after all." Mark winked at him, hugging him closer until he could prop his chin on the top of his head. 

All wrapped up in each other's arms, they finally took a moment to truly enjoy the ride. They were at the top of the ferris wheel now, reaching the highest point, allowing them to see the entire city skyline, all lit up and sparkling against the night sky. 

Donghyuck sighed as he felt Mark press another soft kiss to his temple. "Thank you for always making my life a little more interesting, baby." 

"Anything for you," he whispered back, not missing a beat.

"Speaking of which," Mark began, "don't you have something to deal with too?" 

"Hmm?" 

Donghyuck jumped as he felt Mark nudging his knee in between his legs, pressing up right up against his still hard and throbbing dick. 

Eyes twinkling with mischief, Mark grazed the top of his ears with his teeth, "Should I return the favor? We still have some time before we reach the bottom. I bet I can make you cum before then."

.

Donghyuck wasn’t just wasted, he was absolutely  _ shitfaced.  _

Going out with both Renjun and Jaemin was a terrible idea, but that didn’t stop him, which was the sole reason he was drunk out of his fucking mind right now. He lost count of the number of cups and shots that were passed in his direction. Did he drink four or was it fourteen? Donghyuck couldn’t remember to save his life. 

He couldn’t really feel his arms or legs, which should be concerning, but he didn’t mind, more like he couldn’t even if he tried. His mind was nothing but a blur and hazy around the edges. He couldn’t even focus on anything in front of him either, all that he saw as he opened his eyes was the sight of the night sky staring back at him. Beside him, he heard Jaemin babbling out a bunch of nonsense and then laughing his ass off afterwards, Renjun joining in on the fun not a beat later.

The longer that he stared at the sky and all of the twinkling stars that were scattered across it, Donghyuck was suddenly reminded of a particular someone. Someone who had a set of beautiful, dark eyes and the light of a thousand stars dancing within them. 

Bursting out into a fit of giggles, Donghyuck extended his hands out towards the stars. “Mark’s eyes are so pretty… I love them…”

“Oh, shut up, Duckie.” Renjun exclaimed. “You love everything about him, trust me, we know.” 

“But, Mark doesn’t.” He continued to giggle, hands still trying to grasp at the stars decorating the sky. “Mark doesn’t know.”

“What? Of course he knows. He’s your boyfriend!” 

Donghyuck snorted. “Yeah, my boyfriend…” 

Donghyuck wondered how it had been since they had been dancing around each other like this, with no clear labels even though something was clearly there. Part of it was probably his fault though, because each time that Donghyuck had somehow mustered up enough courage to bring it up and to say those fateful three words, he would always back out in the end, no matter how much Mark urged him to continue. 

Ever since the first time that he almost let it slipped, the way that Mark looked at him changed. Mark had always looked at him with fondness, but lately, the gazes that Mark sent his way were even softer and lovelier, if possible. It was like Mark knew what he felt and the words that he wanted to say even without him actually saying them. 

But, Donghyuck wanted to say those three words so much. He wanted to scream them out for the entire world to know — to know that he was absolutely, insanely in love with Mark Lee. 

He blamed it on the liquid courage that was running through his veins and the way the stars in the night sky continued to shine so brightly that he blurted out, “I love you, Mark Lee, so fucking much.” 

And just like that, Donghyuck felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders. 

Feeling all kinds of giddy, Donghyuck couldn’t stop himself from shouting those words over and over again. “I love Mark Lee. I fucking  _ love _ Mark Lee.” He became nothing but a giggling mess as he smiled up at the sky, arms still reaching out, trying to touch the stars. 

“Dude, how can you still be disgusting when you’re drunk?” Renjun asked him. 

Donghyuck heard him retch, but he wasn’t sure if Renjun was joking like he usually did or if it was legit. The latter didn’t seem that impossible, considering the amount of drinks that they had consumed amongst themselves. 

“It’s not called being disgusting,” Donghyuck began, words tumbling out of his mouth in a jumbled mess. He could feel his eyes slipping shut the longer he laid out there on the ground, the cool night’s breeze rustling through his clothes. “It’s called being in love.” 

“Oh, so you’re in love now?” 

A burst of warmth exploded in his chest as he forced his eyes back open. Everything was fuzzy at first, but after blinking a couple of times, the blob of a person before him cleared up. And when Donghyuck recognized who it was, he giggled and made grabby hands at them, wishing to be held. 

Mark shook his head and merely laughed at his childish antics before tugging him up slowly from the round and into his waiting arms. Mark pressed his face into the crook of his neck as his other arm came around to support him upright. Donghyuck felt a soft kiss on the top of his curls and he practically melted against Mark’s body. “Yeah, so in love.” 

“That’s nice.” 

“It really is,” he sighed out, snuggling deep into Mark’s neck, letting his cologne invade all of his senses. Heart growing warmer and warmer with each passing second, combined with the alcohol still running fervently in his system, Donghyuck said, “But I have a dare for you.” 

“A dare?” Mark laughed again, his voice full of disbelief. “Right now? I think we should get you home first, baby.” 

“No, I want to do it right now.” Donghyuck pouted, digging his feet into the ground to prevent Mark from taking him anywhere further. “I’m not going home until you do my dare.” 

Mark sighed, his golden frames slipping down the bridge of his nose as he did so. But Mark stopped trying to manhandle him to the car and pushed his bangs back away from his face instead. “Alright, what’s the dare?” 

Smiling until his cheeks began to hurt, Donghyuck quipped, “I dare you to let me be you one and only.” Before Mark could say anything in return though, Donghyuck blurted out, “I love you.” 

It became quiet. Neither one of them uttered a single word after what he had just said. If Donghyuck wasn’t as drunk as he was, he would have had a heart attack, screamed his head off, and then ran off. But he wasn’t sober, so Donghyuck leaned against Mark’s chest and looked up at him, ready to repeat his words again. “I —. ”

“I love you.” Mark repeated for him, smiling brightly. “Yes, baby, I know.” 

“No, you don’t!” Donghyuck cried out, hands tightening onto the front of Mark’s hoodie. With the alcohol still thumping in his veins, Donghyuck felt like he was invincible. He was sick of holding in this secret for so long now. It took so much effort to keep it hidden, he was ready to be free. 

“I’m being serious right now!” He continued to shout, voice nearly desparate as he looked into Mark’s eyes, praying that Mark would hear the words that he would say next seriously. “I love you as much the sun loves the moon. I may be everything light and bright but if it’s at the expense of you, I would gladly die and let you shine instead. I love you more than the very air that we’re breathing. There’s a lot of things in my life that I can live without, but I can’t live without you, Mark.” 

He watched as Mark parted his lips to say something, but Donghyuck wasn’t quite finished yet. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t think you could possibly understand how fucking much I love you, Mark. Even though your jokes suck ass, they make me smile like crazy. We talk about the most randomest things, but for some reason they make my heart flutter, especially when we’re talking about something that you like. Butterflies grow in my stomach when you get all excited and your eyes start to do your signature sparkling shit. I love you so much and I… just wished that you were mine, Mark…” 

Donghyuck wasn’t sure when it happened but apparently some point in the middle of it all, he started to bawl. Now that he was completely finished with pouring his entire heart out for Mark, he was a hiccuping mess and his nose completely stuffed. He was sure that he looked awful and even more wrecked than he was before, but Mark looked at him like he was the most beautiful thing in the world. 

Eyes incredibly fond, Mark thumbed at the tears escaping from the corner of his eyes. With the corner of his lips curved up into that smile that Donghyuck loved so much, he whispered, “I know, Donghyuck. I love you too.” 

.

Donghyuck woke up to the feeling of the morning sun’s rays scattering across his skin. There was a dull ache in the back of his mind, but he had honestly expected it to be much worse considering how much he had drank the night before. His throat was perched through, all scratchy and raw, begging for water. 

He opened his mouth to state it, but before he could croak out anything, he felt a series of warm kisses being pressed all over his face —  his forehead, his cheeks, his eyelids. When Mark got dangerously close to kissing him on the lips, Donghyuck dodged it at the last second, tilting his head to the side to avoid it. 

“I don’t know about you, but I still have morning breath…,” he rasped out, throat burning as he forced those words out. 

Mark laughed at him, the sound coming out low and equally rapsy as if he had just woken up not too long ago either. Instead of feeling a kiss on his lips like he thought, Mark began to liter his jawline with them. Mark left a trail of kisses from the tiny spot right under his ear all the way to his chin. They were soft and fleeting, but they still made goosebumps ripple across in his body in their wake. 

"I don't care." Mark mumbled, his words warm against his skin. "Now, go back to sleep and let me love you." 

At first, nothing quite registered in his mind. Donghyuck simply hummed back a couple incoherent words before he allowed his body to sink back even further into the mattress as Mark continued to leave more open-mouthed kisses upon his skin. But as Mark slipped a hand underneath his shirt, splaying across his stomach and Mark's lips coming dangerously close to his own, Donghyuck snapped his eyes open. 

Barely breathing, he stuttered out, "What?" 

Any sleepiness that he had felt left his system as his brain tried to play catch up. He stared back at Mark, mouth slightly parted and body completely tense under Mark’s touch. 

_ ‘Love?’  _ Donghyuck thought. There was no way Mark said that. He was hungover and his mind was playing tricks on them, because Mark couldn’t have said it. Or rather Mark could have, but Donghyuck didn’t want to accept it. He didn’t want to accept it in case it wasn’t the truth. 

“Why are you so surprised for?” Mark asked, fingers coming up to caress his cheeks. Mark’s gaze was oozing with sweetness, practically dripping with honey. As he came down to press another kiss, he mumbled, “I love you. You know that don’t you, Donghyuck?” 

Upon hearing those three words a second time, his breath hitched. Mark took away every single last breath of air that he had in the way that he moved the pad of his thumb across his skin, mapping out all of the constellations on his cheeks. 

Heart beating so frantically that he could hear it in his ears, Donghyuck tried to swallow the unsettling feeling that was pooling in his stomach. With the way that Mark was touching him, his entire body was bursting into flames. His hands were growing clammy and he kept on clenching and unclenching them against the sheets of the bed. 

Licking his chapped lips, Donghyuck forced himself to say, “Please don’t say that just because I said it… ” He could feel himself wavering as the emotions were beginning to take over along with the memories from the previous night. He could also feel the way that his heart was cracking and falling into pieces inside his chest, but still he continued on. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it, Mark.” 

After all this time, Donghyuck thought that he had prepared himself enough for this moment, where Mark would throw around those words jokingly with the intention of keeping him entertained, but now that he heard them, Donghyuck was not prepared for it. There was a sting starting from within his chest, slowly ebbing until it consumed all of him. Donghyuck knew that he was only a couple seconds away from bursting out into tears and making a complete fool of himself in front of Mark. He could tell by the way that his eyes were beginning to burn and the tightness of his chest. 

He needed to get out of there, fast. Donghyuck needed to leave. He couldn’t stay here any longer, especially when Mark probably didn’t mean what he had said. 

“What if I said that I did mean it?” Mark asked him in return. “That I love you.” 

A shaky breath left him. “You don’t have to say it because of the dare… I was drunk last night. I wasn’t thinking right anyways.”

“Then did you mean it? When you told me you loved me, did you mean it then?” 

The answer was on the tip of his tongue and Donghyuck was whole-heartedly ready to blurt it out again, that he loved Mark, because it was the truth, nothing but the truth. But he held himself back. He had already embarrassed himself once by saying them, he wasn’t going to do it a second time.

The more that Mark stared at him though, gaze unwavering, the harder it was to suppress it. Mark looked at him like he was the only person in the world, eyes beautifully dark, yet so bright and expecting. Mark’s undivided attention made his heart beat like crazy and it was getting hard to keep his thoughts together. 

Mark moved his fingers away from his face and slipped them into his hair, tangling up in it. Then he inched his face closer, until Donghyuck could count all the stars in his eyes. Donghyuck had to hold himself back from letting his eyes flutter shut as Mark’s words came out in puffs of warm air. “I love you, Donghyuck. And that’s the truth. I’ve said it many times before, but if you still don’t believe me, I’ll continue to say them to you, for the rest of my life, until you do. I love you.” 

It took a second for Mark’s words to settle in, but once it does, Donghyuck wanted to burst out into tears. The only difference this time around was that it was out of pure relief. Then the relief turned into pure bliss and Donghyuck couldn’t stop a stupid, love-struck smile from gracing his lips. The sting from behind his eyes appeared again and he welcomed it. Before the first tear can fall, Mark was quick to untangle his fingers from his locks, catching it with his thumb, preventing it from staining his cheeks. 

Hiccuping, he said, “You can kiss me now. I mean it’s what most people do after confessing their love for one another.” 

Mark laughed. It was a sound that made his heart soar; nothing but warmth and full of affection. Pressing their foreheads together until their noses were touching, Mark said, “Trust me, I was already planning on it, love.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who have stuck around with this fic for this long. When I first came up with this fic idea, courtesy of Any's little tweet, I certainly did not expect it to grow into a monster like this lol. But I'm kind of happy it did because all in all, I loved it. I also personally saw some writing growth within this story too. I'm really pleased with the way markhyuck's relationship developed throughout the fic and I hope that you guys did too! 
> 
> As always, kudos & comments are greatly appreciated. Especially since this is the final round of this au until I magically decide to revisit it again haha. 
> 
> Stay safe, stay hydrated, stay healthy! And practice safe sex!!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/markeuhyuckie/status/1239041276454076417?s=20) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/markeuhyuckie)


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